(March 24): The Court of Appeal on Monday has recorded a consent judgment between the federal government and AwanBiru Technology Bhd’s unit Prestariang Skin Sdn Bhd, where the government has agreed to pay Prestariang a sum of RM201.477 million within three months and withdraw its appeal for a stay of the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision last year that ordered it to pay RM231.55 million.

This is over the termination of the government’s RM3.5 billion National Immigration Control System (SKIN) project.

At the same time, Prestariang also withdrew its cross-appeal and did not seek costs.

The consent order was recorded before Court of Appeal judge Datuk Supang Lian after Senior Federal Counsel Nurhafizza Azizan, who appeared with Federal Counsel Ng Wee Li, informed the bench that the parties had reached a resolution on the matter.

Prestariang’s counsel Esther Hong Hui Jun and Syukran Syafiq concurred with Nurhafizza, and they confirmed with Supang, who sat with judges Datuk Dr Lim Chong Fong and Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, that they had reached an agreement on the matter.

“This appellate court records the consent judgment between parties and also strikes out the appeals (by Prestariang and the government) with no order as to costs,” Supang said.

AwanBiru Technology was previously known as Prestariang Bhd.

With this, the federal government agrees to pay the RM201.477 million within three months of the consent judgment and withdraws its stay application on the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s order for them to pay a sum of RM231.55 million.

In a statement, Awantec said the settlement “brings a definitive conclusion” to the episode, eliminating uncertainties and enabling it “to fully concentrate on driving future growth”.

“This resolution marks a pivotal moment for Awantec, providing both certainty and expedience. With this settlement, we can now fully focus on our growth drivers, particularly in AI and cybersecurity, while investing in the enhancement of our technical capabilities to drive innovation,” said Awantec CEO Azlan Zainal Abidin.

“The one-time lump sum payment not only enables us to settle outstanding SKIN-related creditors but will also contribute positively to our cash flow,” Azlan said in the statement.

On March 14 last year, Prestariang won its legal battle against the government, following the suit the company filed over the termination of the RM3.5 billion SKIN project.

However, the High Court ordered the government to pay a judgement sum of RM231.55 million, plus legal costs incurred by Prestariang during the litigation process, for which the court had directed a payment of RM80,000, subject to the final legal fees, as stipulated following an announcement by Bursa Malaysia.

At the opening of the legal suit, lawyers for Prestariang had claimed that the company was entitled to damages of between RM733 million and RM922 million after the then-Pakatan Harapan (PH) government had unilaterally terminated a concession agreement (CA) with the company for the provision of the comprehensive immigration system over a period of 15 years.

An independent expert who assessed the project found that the company had completed 22.37% of the project since 2017.

The company filed the suit in 2019 following the termination of the project.

Read also:
Govt ordered to pay RM231.55m in damages to Awantec over termination of RM3.5b SKIN project
AwanTec unit seeks up to RM922m in damages after govt unilaterally terminated SKIN contract
Prestariang RM3.5b SKIN project almost in the bag