KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 15): The Federal Court has dismissed businessman Datuk Kasi KL Palaniappan's  (better known as as P Kasi) application for leave to appeal in a lawsuit against UEM Sunrise Bhd’s unit and several others over alleged oppression of minority shareholders in Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Cyberjaya.

The legal saga has spanned over six years, but the apex court's decision on Tuesday (Aug 15) “brings these proceedings to an end as Impresive Circuit Sdn Bhd has no further avenue of appeal”, said UEM Sunrise in a bourse filing.

Impresive Circuit, which holds a 12.5% stake in Setia Haruman, is equally owned by Kasi and Datin Janaki @ Mallika Palaniappan, according to data from Companies Commission Malaysia.

UEM Sunrise's wholly-owned units UEM Land, Menara Embun Sdn Bhd and Virtual Path Sdn Bhd each own a 25% stake in Setia Haruman, while the remaining 12.5% is controlled by Modern Eden Sdn Bhd.

The lawsuit can be traced back to July 2017, when UEM Land Bhd was served with the claim filed by Impresive Circuit and Kasi.

Impresive Circuit and Kasi sought a declaration that the defendants, who included UEM Land, Menara Embun and Modern Eden, had exercised their powers oppressively in managing and conducting the affairs of Setia Haruman, and had allegedly disregarded and acted in a manner unfairly prejudicial to the interest of the two plaintiffs as members of Setia Haruman.

Impresive Circuit and Kasi also sought an order to dispose of their shareholdings in Setia Haruman to the rest of the shareholders at a price and on terms as determined by the court.

Kasi, an architect who co-founded property developer MK Land Holdings Bhd, was ousted from the company in December 2017 after he failed to garner sufficient votes from shareholders, particularly major shareholder and co-founder Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar, to remain as a director.

In April 2018, UEM Land successfully applied to strike out Kasi as a party in the claim. The remaining plaintiff, Impresive Circuit, meanwhile successfully added Menara Embun and Modern Eden as defendants.

The High Court in June 2021 dismissed Impresive Circuit’s claim, and this decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeal level in January this year.

In February, Impresive Appeal applied to the Federal Court for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision.

Shares of UEM Sunrise closed up half a sen or 0.88% at 57 sen on Tuesday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM2.86 billion.