Pascal rightful administrator of Ahmad Najadi's estate, court rules

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today held that the sole heir to the Ambank Group founder, Pascal Ahmad Najadi, is the rightful administrator of his father Hussain Ahmad Najadi's estate.
In his judgment, Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said based on the evidence before him, there was only one person beneficially entitled to the estate of the deceased and that was the applicant, Pascal.
Vazeer Alam ruled that there was no evidence of the estate of the deceased (Hussain) being insolvent or were there any special circumstances warranting the appointment of someone other than the beneficiary (Pascal).
He therefore, allowed Pascal's application to be appointed as the administrator of his father's estate.
He made the ruling after hearing submissions from counsel Dharmesh Singh Penesar, representing Pascal and counsel Joshua Kevin, who acted for Hussain's wife, Cheong Mei Kuen, the Caveator in this summons.
The court also ordered Cheong to pay RM500 in costs to Pascal. Cheong had filed a Caveat against the issuance of any letters of administration or probate for the estate of the deceased (Hussain) on grounds that she was a person interested in the estate of the deceased.
In her affidavit, Cheong contended that she was lawfully married to the deceased in Australia under a civil marriage in accordance to Australian law and the marriage was recognised as valid under Section 104 of the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce Act) 1976.
On the Caveat, Vazeer Alam said the court found that the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976 was not applicable to determine the validity of spousal relationship between the deceased (Hussain) and the Caveator, Cheong, as the deceased was a Muslim and Section 3 (3) of the said Act made it abundantly clear that the Act was not applicable to Muslims.
"Therefore, validity of the marriage would have to be determined under the provisions of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984 and not the Law Reform Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976," he said.
He also said that Cheong has never challenged this assertion nor has she shown any proof that she is a Muslim.
"It is trite that under the law, a non-Muslim is not recognised as a beneficiary to an intestate Muslim's estate. In the circumstances, this court would have to take cognisance of the "Sijil Faraid" that has been issued by the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court and take it that Cheong is not a person entitled to the estate of the deceased," he said.
Vazeer Alam further said that as the Caveator, Cheong was not a person interested in the estate of the deceased and she was not a person recognised in law as being entitled to the grant of letter of administration to the estate of the deceased.
Pascal had on December 5 last year filed an originating summons seeking for Letters of Administration be issued on his father's estate on the grounds that there were no rights prior to or any minority rights which arose from his father's intestate death.
On Oct 9 last year, Pascal inherited his father's assets worth RM1.8 million after the Syariah High Court here allowed his 'faraid' application for the same.
The properties included RM321,195.70 in cash as well as assets and shares in a Labuan company worth RM1.5 million.
Hussain Ahmad Najadi was shot dead while his wife was seriously injured after a gunman opened fire on them when they emerged from the Kuan Yin Temple in Lorong Ceylon here on the afternoon of July 29, 2013. – Bernama