KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): The Federal Court on Monday set aside the Court of Appeal's (COA) decision two years ago to cancel the Selangor Turf Club (STC) project mooted by Berjaya Land Bhd in 2004.
In a bourse filing, Berjaya Land said the apex court allowed its appeal against the Selangor government and the director of the Selangor Country Planning Department (JPBD) with costs of RM80,000, and reinstated the orders made by the High Court in 2017.
In 2004, Berjaya Land's wholly-owned unit Berjaya Tagar Sdn Bhd entered into an agreement with the STC for the acquisition of three parcels of leasehold land measuring a total of 245 acres (99.15 hectares) in Sungai Besi for RM640 million, of which RM35 million was to be paid in cash and RM605 million to be satisfied by a transfer to the STC of 750 acres of land in Bukit Tagar with a newly built turf club.
Berjaya Tagar had proposed to acquire the Bukit Tagar land from Berjaya City Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Berjaya Corp Bhd, and to appoint Berjaya City as the turnkey contractor of the new turf club. However, the Berjaya companies did not receive the necessary approvals following a change in the Selangor government after the 2008 general election.
In 2017, Berjaya Land, Berjaya Tagar and Berjaya City won a judicial review application in the High Court against the Selangor government and JPBD, paving the way for the relocation of the STC to Bukit Tagar. However, in November 2021, the Selangor government succeeded in its appeal in the COA to cancel the construction of the new STC.
Shares in Berjaya Land finished one sen or 1.79% lower at 28 sen on Monday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.38 billion.