KUALA LUMPUR (April 7): Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib has filed a lawsuit against Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (KL:CMSB) over being allegedly blocked from board meetings.
The suit against the company and 10 others was filed at the High Court on April 2, said CMSB in a bourse filing on Tuesday.
In a separate filing, CMSB annouced that Mahmud Abu Bekir, who was the company’s deputy chairman, has been redesignated as a non-executive, non-independent director with immediate effect.
He is seeking court declarations and orders regarding his role as a director, including confirmation that he is only in a conflict-of-interest position when pending legal cases are deliberated at board meetings.
He is also seeking the right to attend all board meetings, arguing that he should only recuse himself when such matters are discussed. He further contends that his exclusion from the 328th board meeting on Feb 24 was unlawful and is seeking an injunction to prevent the other defendants from excluding him in the future, except when the pending cases are deliberated upon.
Mahmud Abu Bekir is also requesting copies of board meeting minutes from April 9, 2025, to Jan 31, 2026, and wants future meeting agendas to clearly list the pending cases, specifying that he only needs to step aside when those matters are discussed.
Mahmud Abu Bekir and CMSB have been embroiled in several legal disputes, including a lawsuit he filed in March last year to inspect the company’s accounts.
CMSB and its unit Cahya Mata Intelligent Technologies Sdn Bhd have also sued six parties, including Mahmud Abu Bekir, over alleged breaches of trust and fiduciary duties related to a failed enterprise resource planning system.
Last month, the High Court dismissed an application by Mahmud Abu Bekir and five others to strike out the suit brought against them.
CMSB on Tuesday maintained that a conflict of interest exists due to the ongoing legal proceedings, which were among the matters deliberated at the board meeting in question.
The company added that it is in the process of appointing solicitors and that the suit is not expected to have any material financial impact on the company.
CMSB shares closed unchanged at RM1.16 on Tuesday, giving the Sarawak-based conglomerate a market capitalisation of RM1.25 billion.