KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): The Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court ruling that affirms the power of the Commissioner of Buildings to intervene if a property's management body had not held an annual general meeting for some time.

The landmark decision earlier this month confirms the sweeping powers accorded to the building regulator under the Strata Management Act 2013.   

A three-member bench led by Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab had on Oct 6 dismissed the appeals by the joint management body of Cova Suites (Cova Suites JMB), which had disputed the authority of the Petaling Jaya COB to call an extraordinary general meeting to elect new members to the residents committee, as requested by 141 unit owners of the  high-rise residential building. 

Cova Suites residents had brought their grievances to the Strata Management Tribunal over the JMB's refusal to hold an AGM since November 2019 and obtained a decision in December 2022 to compel the convening of an EGM under the COB's supervision.

The JMB tried to quash that decision at the High Court, contending that the election of the new office bearers could not be forced via the EGM and that the appointment of an external individual to hold the meeting would strip the JMB of administrative control. The High Court rejected this bid on Aug 8, 2024, leading to the JMB seeking redress at the appeals court.

This latest Court of Appeal ruling upholds the High Court decision, and means the EGM must be held within 60 days.

“There was no illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety in the COB’s decision. Hence, the appeal by the JMB is dismissed,” the bench led by Alwi said.

The previous JMB office bearers which had challenged the COB decision have been asked to pay RM90,000 costs to the COB and not use the JMB funds.

The JMB was represented by counsel Bernard Scott and Lee Fook Khong, while the COB was represented by Lai Chee Hoe and Deyvinah Ganesalingam.

Lai said the Oct 6 decision meant that the COB had the power to step in and compel the holding of an EGM when the JMB was found to be stagnant and “not properly constituted”.

Secondly, he added, the democratic election of new management committee members and the determination of committee size can be done via an EGM, as it is an official gathering of unit owners.

The decision also means that COB had the authority to appoint an external individual to convene and conduct the EGM meetings, the COB lawyer added.

“The judiciary addresses enforcement when a non-compliant committee flatly refuses to obey a regulatory directive to hold a meeting," Lai said.