Sri Ram: Ignore wrong rulings
17/07/2007 NST

PUTRAJAYA: Court rulings which wrongly interpreted existing laws need not be followed as precedents, Court of Appeal judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram said.

He was referring to the Federal Court ruling in Adorna Properties vs Boonsom Boonyanit, which he said did not introduce a new principle but was merely interpreting a section in the National Land Code.

"No court in this country need to follow it if it can be demonstrated that it was wrongly decided," Sri Ram said.

In his separate judgment to explain why the apex court ruling in the case should be ignored, he said it was clear that Section 340 (3) of the code applied to subsequent acquirers of land whose title may have been in dispute.

"Adorna was not a subsequent purchase. It took its title from a forger," he said.

In the case, the Federal Court had ruled in favour of Adorna as a "bona fide purchaser" and against Boonsom, the owner of the land whose transfer documents had been forged.

Sri Ram said the case had also overlooked at least two authorities which held that the code provided for "deferred indefeasibility", which sets out the stage at which buyers can claim title to contested properties.

Sri Ram said the aim of Section 340 of the code was to protect registered proprietors of land and any interpretation must bring about a fair result.

"It is no exaggeration to say that Adorna has wreaked havoc in the law of real property. All you have to do is to read the national newspapers."

Sri Ram said one could find stories of innocent land owners who were deprived of their property because of forgery and the law as it stood today favoured forgers.

For all the reasons advanced, Sri Ram said he was prepared to rule in favour of the brothers, Au Meng Nam and Ming Kong.

He said the facts in Adorna were distinguishable from the present case.

"In Adorna, the instrument of transfer was forged but the title was genuine. In the present appeal, the title used to effect the transaction was forged."