Defendant Written Submission
Defendant Written Submission
Defendant Written Submission
BETWEEN
AND
A. INTRODUCTION
Summary Judgment pursuant to Order 14 of the Rules of Court 2012 wherein the
Plaintiff had prayed for inter alia, among others the sum of RM 300,000.00 a
year purportedly being loss of profits suffered by the Plaintiff from 30 March
2013 and continuing, and the sum of RM 15 million being general damages for
libel.
(ii) There are substantial and material disputes of fact and of law in this case
as to ensure that all the relevant documents are before this Honourable
(iii) There are at least nine (9) issues which ought to be determined at the
3. We crave leave of this Honourable Court to refer to the following cause papers:
(i) Plaintiff’s Writ dated 20.03.2019 (“Writ”) and Statement of Claim dated
[Enclosure 9];
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(iv) Notice of Application for Summary Judgment filed on 23.9.2016
C. BRIEF FACTS
Companies Act 1965 and having its business address at M2-C-9/2 (Tingkat 2),
Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6, Pandan Indah, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
operatives Act 1948 and having its registered address and business address at
305, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Chow Kit, 50100, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala
Lumpur.
6. The Plaintiff had commenced action against Defendant for in respect of four (4)
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causes of action, namely:
(i) Negligence in commencing the sessions court action and the winding up
petition against it;
(ii) Negligence in failing to provide the Plaintiff with the letter of release
stating that the Plaintiff was not indebted to Defendant;
(iii) Negligence in failing to provide the Plaintiff with the correct set forms
for the renewal of the Plaintiff’s underwriting agency license; and
7. It is imperative to note that the relationship between the defendant to the plaintiff
with regards to the cause of action set out under paragraphs 6(i) to (iv) is that of a
8. Hence, in the event that the Plaintiff were to raise a cause of action under
negligence, there must be a duty of care owed by the Defendant to the Plaintiff,
9. The Defendant maintains that the deed of assignment tendered by the plaintiff
has not been stamped to date and therefore the deed of assignment is invalid and
unenforceable.
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10. The Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant was negligent in providing the wrong
forms to the Plaintiff for the renewal of Underwriting Agency license. However,
the Plaintiff has not only failed to comply with Regulation 8/16 (ii) of the
nominee, director and shareholder of two principals at the same time, it has also
(i) The Plaintiff has failed to comply with the necessary requirements in
11. In short, the Plaintiff is attempting to obtain a lump sum summary judgment
against the Defendant for 4 different cause of actions where they have also failed
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12. The law in so far as an application for summary judgment is concerned is trite.
The Court would not grant summary judgment in circumstances where it can be
shown that the Defendant has a bona fide defence and where the Defendant has
13. If authorities need to be cited for the above proposition then we will refer to the
following:
(i) Order 14 rule 1 of the Rules of Court, 2012 [See the Defendant’s
(ii) Shorga Sdn Bhd v Amanah Raya Berhad [2004] 1 CLJ 417 [DBA
Oils (M) Sdn Bhd & Ors [1983] 1 MLJ 206 [DBA Tab 3] at page 27;
(iv) Alloy Automotive Sdn Bhd v Perusahaan Ironfield Sdn Bhd [1986] 1
(v) Bank Negara v Mohd Ismail & Ors [1992] 1 MLJ 400 [DBA Tab 5]
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(vi) Malayan Insurance (M) Sdn Bhd v Asia Hotel Sdn Bhd [1987] 2
E. THE ISSUE
16. In determining the above primary issue, this Honourable Court would also have
18. The Defendant shall deal with the abovementioned issues in detail below which
would ultimately show that this is not a fit and proper case for this Honorable
Court to grant a judgment summarily and that the Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment
F. SUBMISSIONS
19. The Defendant respectfully submits that this is not a fit and proper case to be
determined summarily as there are bona fide issues to be tried which requires
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further discovery of documents and examination of oral as well as documentary
evidence.
20. To date, the Defendant has identified at least seven (7) issues that ought to be
(“2nd Issue”)
(v) In respect of the debt owed by the Plaintiff to the Defendant, whether the
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(vi) Whether the Defendant was under duty to provide correct forms for
and
(vii) Whether Plaintiff has proven its claim for loss and damages? (“7th
Issue”)
21. For ease of reference, the Defendant has prepared a table which is annexed to
contention against the Plaintiff’s claim herein as well as to set out the various and
different terms and condition of contract(s) and/or projects involved for which
the Plaintiff is attempting to obtain summary judgment for and the Defendant’s
counsel will submit further on this at the hearing of the Plaintiff’s Summary
Judgment Application.
ultimately show that there are numerous and substantial dispute of facts in this
23. Notwithstanding the above, the Defendant will deal with some of the triable
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Invoices Issued By The Plaintiff Not In Accordance With The Terms And
24. The Plaintiff has exhibited numerous invoices in support of its application for
25. The Defendant has denied these invoices on the premise that they were
incomplete and not submitted together with the relevant and requisite documents
26. It should be noted that the Defendant has already made payment for any and/or
all invoices which have been duly verified and submitted according to the terms
27. The Defendant had made part payments on the undisputed portion of the
Plaintiff’s invoices on goodwill and upon the requests of the Plaintiff. These part
28. See Tenaga Nasional Bhd v Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd [1995] 4 MLJ 673 [DBA
Tab 8], where Low Hop Bing J (as he then was) held at page 70-71:
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“In my judgment, it is the plaintiff's obligation and legal duty to send
correct electricity bills and 20% discount credit notes to the defendant.
The plaintiff at all material times knew that the defendant would rely
upon these bills and credit notes to make payment. These bills and
Office in Kuala Lumpur. In light of his ignorance, his evidence did not
….
existence of facts which he asserts, must prove that those facts exist.
In other words, the plaintiff must prove such facts as the plaintiff
desires the court to give judgment as to its right to claim against the
29. The incompleteness of the invoices is clearly shown when compared with the
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amounts claimed by Plaintiff in this action. For instance, the Defendant wishes to
draw the attention of this Honourable Court to pages 403 to 406 of the Plaintiff’s
less 10% as retention sum for “inspection visually for damages framework all
spaces, perform thickness testing” and “inspect visually bulkheads for damages.”
sum for “inspect visually hull incl appendages, perform thickness testing.” The
Defendant could not make payments for any or all invoices submitted by the
30. It is imperative to note that regardless of the invoices issued by the Plaintiff
and/or the amount claimed by the Plaintiff therein, some of the contracts
specifically provide that the Plaintiff would only be entitled to receive the
amount claimed by it if the Defendant receives the same amount from the project
owner.
31. For instance, Clause 3.5 of the contract between the Defendant and the Plaintiff
for the vessel known as KD Kedah [please see page 39 of the Defendant’s
portion of the Work for which payment is claimed and has been
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Contractor receiving the same relevant claim from the Owner.”
32. It is clear that the Defendant’s obligation to pay the Plaintiff is subject to them
being paid by the Vessel’s Owner (Royal Malaysian Navy), the Plaintiff is bound
by this terms and shall not now renege on their contractual promises by seeking
payment from Defendant for work done under that Contract when the Defendant
33. See: Polygrams Records Sdn Bhd v The Search & Anor [1994] 3 MLJ 127
[DBA Tab 9] at page 102 and Mohd Ali bin Abdul Majid v Manokaran a/l
34. The Defendant contends that that all monetary claims for works done for the
vessel owner (also known as cost verification and cost qualification exercise
[CV/CQ]).
35. The Defendant had duly informed the Plaintiff that the payment due to the
pages 870 to 872 of the Plaintiff’s Affidavit in Support). However, the Plaintiff
could not accept the explanation given by the Defendant and rejected the final
36. Therefore, the issue arises as to whether the Defendant is obliged to pay the
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Plaintiff the sum that it claimed for or the sum as approved by the Royal
37. We respectfully state that the above is not an issue which ought to be determined
reasonableness of the Plaintiff’s claim and the basis of the deduction made by the
project owner and the sum received by the Defendant from the owner.
The Defendant does not owe any duty of care towards the Plaintiff
38. On this point, the action that is brought by the Plaintiff arise from the Judgement
in Default that was obtained against the Plaintiff. In light of this, the relationship
between the Defendant and the Plaintiff is that of a litigant in a court proceeding.
39. Judicial precedent had established that there is no duty of care owed by one
these are procedural issues that are already dealt with in the Rules of Court.
Hence, the damages suffered by litigants during the legal process are not
40. A landmark case that establishes this principle is the case of Business Computers
41. “...control of litigation and of the various steps taken in prosecuting litigation lies
in the Court and the rules and procedures that governs litigation and cannot be
sought via tortious duty of care imposed on one party for the benefit of the
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other.”
“In my judgement, there is not duty of care owed by one litigant to another as to
the manner in which the litigation is conducted, whether in regard to service of process or
in regard to any other step in proceeding. The safeguards against impropriety are to be
found in the rules and procedures that control the litigation and not in tort.”
42. As affirmed by the judge, such action on litigation procedure is governed by the
rules and procedures of court and cannot be based on an action in tort. In Tetuan
Abdul Aziz & Associates v Sunshine heaven Sdn Bhd [2016] 6 MLRA, to quote
para 27;
43. “ As a general rule, a solicitor acting for a client in a civil case will owe no duty
44. Hence, the defendant affirm no such duty of care exist to the plaintiff that would
2. The plaintiff claims the internal memo of defendant dated 12.05.1990 serves as a
termination of agency. The plaintiff relies solely on the internal memo as the basis of
3. A point to note that is not disputed is the internal memo was distributed internally
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4. Nevertheless, it is a common practice of insurance agency to return cover notes in the
possesion of the agent to the insurance company, in which there is no evidence that
5. Therefore, the Defendant affirmed that no such termination took place as the evidence
shall remain idle at any time during this Agreement’s duration for
46. Notwithstanding the above express provision, the Plaintiff had proceeded to
make a claim and issued its invoice to claim for idle man power against the
Defendant.
47. One such instance can be seen if we refer to page 637 of the Plaintiff’s Affidavit
in Support whereby the Plaintiff had submitted idle manpower claim amounting
48. Another similar issue can be seen in regard to the contract involving the vessel
known as Sarku H103 (Outfitting) whereby the Plaintiff would only be entitled to
half the rate of the idle manpower claim (please refer to page 23 of the
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Defendant’s Affidavit in Reply). Part 3 Clause 11 of the contract reads:
quotation.”
49. It was also a term of the contract for Sarku H103 (piping system) whereby the
Defendant may change or re-schedule the construction schedule as and when the
Defendant deemed necessary and the Plaintiff as the contractor shall be obliged
to follow the revised schedule without claiming the Plaintiff for any extra cost
incurred due to the schedule revision. (please refer to page 23 of the Defendant’s
Affidavit in Reply).
50. However, the Plaintiff once again tried to make a claim for something which it is
not entitled to under the contract against the Defendant as can be seen from
51. Since these claims were not made in accordance with the terms of the respective
contracts, the Plaintiff cannot be allowed to maintain the same against the
Defendant.
52. The Plaintiff alleged that it had claimed the cost of idle manpower for Sarku
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H103(Piping System) works on the ground of unavailability of materials. The
demobalise the workers and did not complete the Sarku H103(Piping System)
works.
53. On the other hand, the Defendant contends that the Plaintiff’s allegation of
54. The Defendant maintains that together with its subcontractors (which includes
the Plaintiff) they have had weekly internal meetings to discuss and address
various issues regarding the Sarku H103 (Piping Works). The weekly internal
meetings are the appropriate forum for the Plaintiff to address late delivery
and/or non-delivery of the materials (if any). Any issues of any late delivery
and/or non-delivery of the materials should be discussed and agreed upon by the
Defendant and its subcontractors. The minutes of the weekly internal meetings
were sent to the Plaintiff and other subcontractors and the Plaintiff had never
55. As such, the Defendant submits that the Plaintiff cannot profit from the idle
manpower claims and should be held responsible for the additional cost incurred
to complete the Sarku H103(Piping System) works as the Plaintiff had caused
and/or contributed to and/or did not properly resolve the issues of unavailability
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56. All the above show that there are material dispute on the facts which would
require amongst others, the oral evidence of the relevant officers who attended
Defendant’s Entitlement To Offset and/or Deduct The Monies For The Cost
Incurred To Rescue And/or Take Over The Balance Work For The Vessel
57. In this regard, the Defendant refers to Clauses 6 and 10 of the Terms and
Conditions of the General Work Order dated 11.11.2015 for the vessel known as
6.6 In the event that the Contractor fails to supply and/or perform
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the WORKS within the duration of the CONTRACT and/or fails to
services from other Contractor and all costs incurred will be borne by
the Contractor.
scope of WORKS, its terms and conditions and/or any violation to the
other party(s).”
58. Based on the above, it is clear that the Defendant is entitled to recover from the
Plaintiff for any additional cost incurred in the event that the Defendant is
59. Further, in regard to the vessel known as Sarku H103 (Piping System), the
Defendant submits that the Defendant is entitled to offset and/or deduct the
monies payable to the Plaintiff as the Plaintiff had failed to complete the
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Outfitting works and Piping System works for the vessel known as Sarku H103.
60. Consequently the Defendant had suffered time and monetary loss as well as
incurred additional expenses to engage other contractor to take over the balance
61. We respectfully submit that the Plaintiff had not properly resolved the alleged
issue of lack of materials during the weekly internal meetings, which is the
complete the Sarku H103 (Piping Works) on the Defendant is untenable and
instead, the Defendant had acted in accordance to the Terms and Conditions of
the contract for Sarku H103 (Piping Works) and is entitled to recover from the
Plaintiff additional cost incurred to complete the balance work left behind by the
Plaintiff.
62. Please see Part 1 Clause 10 of the contract for Sarku H103(Piping Works) (please
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damages for such partial contractual obligation failure and agree to
completing the remaining works and/or the value of the portion of the
works that have not been performed, remedial works, repair, removal,
63. Hence the Plaintiff respectfully submit that there are clearly bona fide issues to
monies for the cost incurred to rescue and/or take over the balance work for the
vessel known as Sarku H103 and these issues cannot be resolved and/or
64. In view of the abovementioned issues as well as those set out in Annexure-A
herein, it is evident that the present case involves a multitude of substantial and
contentious disputes of fact, which can only be determined by viva voce evidence
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65. See Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid & Ors v. Perdana Merchant Bankers & Ors
[2000] 2 CLJ 457 CA [DBA Tab 11] at pages 153 to 154, where the Court of
that the plaintiff has to satisfy the court that the defendant plainly and
G. CONCLUSION
(i) The Defendant has raised a bona fide defence against the entire claim;
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(ii) There are substantial and material disputes of fact and of law in this case
as to ensure that all the relevant documents are before this Honourable
(iii) As such, this is not a fit and proper case to be determined summarily.
67. Wherefore the Defendant prays that the Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment
…………………………………………..
Sasha Jane Rudy Alexander
Solicitors for the Defendant
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This DEFENDANT’S WRITEN SUBMISSION is filed by Messrs Sasha Jane &
Partners, solicitors for the Defendant abovenamed whose address for service is at AL 732,
REF /SJP/31042
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