KUALA LUMPUR (July 3): After seven long years in court, the family of the late Tan Sri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis have come to an amicable settlement over matrimonial property worth RM2.1 billion.
The case was filed in 2018 by Jamaludin’s widow, Puan Seri Dr Kalsom Ismail, against her four children and 90-year-old mother-in-law, for the various properties.
Shariah lawyer Nur Hidayah A Bakar, who represented Jamaludin's mother, Aminah Abdullah as the plaintiff, said in a press conference at the Shariah Court on Wednesday that the matter had been resolved by the family.
She said that the family had sat for more than three hours on Wednesday at the Shariah Court Complex here to discuss a settlement before informing Shariah High Court judge Abu Suffian Abdul Yaziz that they had reached a settlement.
Nur Hidayah said that the terms of the settlement are private, and it had been recorded and endorsed by the Shariah High Court once the court was informed of the settlement.
“The terms of the settlement are complete, including all the matrimonial assets and inheritances of the deceased,” she said.
She said that disputes of assets in the country and outside the country which belonged to Jamaludin had been settled by the family.
“It has been settled amicably with agreement by all parties,” she said, adding that there was a property in the US and a company known as Rantai Wawasan which were part of the settlement.
The lawyer then said that it was the first time the family and those involved had sat in the presence of lawyers to hash out a settlement.
With this, Nur Hidayah said that the case had come to a close with an amicable end.
Nur Hidayah also said that the relationship between the family is at a good place now.
After not being able to reach a settlement prior to this, the Shariah High Court judge had set the trial for the asset dispute to begin on Tuesday.
At the trial on Tuesday, Kalsom had read her opening statement. However, proceedings were stood down, as the family had decided to discuss a settlement to the matter.
Proceedings had been closed to the media.
The directive for a closed proceeding barring the public, including the media, was made by Abu Suffian following case management in March.
Abu Suffian said he was following the footsteps of the previous judge in this case in keeping the proceedings closed from media scrutiny, even without any request from the parties.
Prior to this, the previous judge had directed for the proceedings to be done behind closed doors due to the possibility of a settlement.
The previous judge in the case was Abdul Shukor Abd Hamid, who was transferred, and Abu Suffian replaced him.
In the past, parties, including Jamaludin’s mother, had failed to reach a conclusion, resulting in the matter going on trial.
Aminah was disputing her daughter-in-law’s joint matrimonial asset claim, claiming that as the surviving mother of the late ex-minister, she is entitled to her own share under the faraid Islamic distribution system.
Faraid is a concept in Islamic law to determine the distribution of property to the heirs of a deceased.
Under this law of inheritance, the surviving mother is entitled to one-sixth of the estate, while Kalsom is entitled to one-eighth.
Jamaludin passed away in a helicopter crash near Semenyih with five others in April 2015. He was the Umno Member of Parliament for Rompin at the time.
He served as the minister of science, technology and innovation from 2004 to 2008, and was also the Malaysian ambassador to the US from 2009 to 2012.
The Edge previously reported that the late Jamaludin was said to have several bank accounts locally and abroad, along with several properties, including houses in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the US.
Two of Jamaludin’s children, Ikhwan Hafiz and Nur Anis, were given letters of administration by the Civil High Court in 2017 to manage the estate.