PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today dismissed an application by former People’s Progressive Party (MyPPP) president Tan Sri M. Kayveas, who sought leave to appeal against the High Court and Court of Appeal’s refusal to allow him to intervene in a lawsuit involving a vesting order for the transfer of company shares and Wisma MyPPP to the political party.
A three-judge panel led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli ruled that leave could not be granted to Kayveas and his company, Kayveas Holdings Sdn Bhd, as the four questions of law proposed did not fulfil the threshold requirement under Section 96 of the Court of Judicature Act 1964.
An applicant must demonstrate to the Federal Court that the proposed appeal involves novel legal or constitutional questions of public importance that are being raised for the first time.
The panel, which also comprised Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil and Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, ordered Kayveas and his company to pay RM30,000 in legal costs.
With today’s decision, the 100,000 units of Bintang Iradat (M) Sdn Bhd shares, along with Wisma MyPPP, are officially vested to MyPPP, which is now led by its current president, Datuk Dr J. Loga Bala Mohan.
Bintang Iradat is a company formed as an investment and corporate entity acting on behalf of MyPPP.
The dispute between Kayveas, Kayveas Holdings Sdn Bhd and the political party began when the Home Minister deregistered the party in January 2019.
Upon its deregistration, the party’s movable and immovable assets, held under Bintang Iradat, were unlawfully transferred to Kayveas Holdings.
In June 2019, the late Datuk Seri Maglin Dennis D’Cruz, who was the then president of MyPPP and eleven former MyPPP members, filed a lawsuit to have the assets belonging to the party to be vested under the Director General of Insolvency (DGI).
They succeeded in their case in the High Court in March 2022, and the Court of Appeal and Federal Court also ruled in their favour in February and October 2023, respectively.
On March 19 last year, the Home Minister lifted the deregistration and declared D Cruz as the rightful president. D Cruz then filed an originating summons against the DGI, requesting a vesting order to transfer Wisma PPP at Kampung Atap and 100,000 shares back to the party.
In August, the High Court allowed the application and the party and its office bearers then took possession of the premises. D Cruz passed away on Nov 17 last year and Loga was elected president this year.
Meanwhile, Kayveas, a former Taiping Member of Parliament, applied to become an intervener in the vesting order application. His request was denied by the High Court on Jan 3, 2024. His subsequent appeal was also dismissed by the Court of Appeal on July 11, 2024, prompting him to seek leave to appeal to the Federal Court.
Lawyer Gavin Jayapal represented Loga while Kayveas, who is also a lawyer, represented himself and acted for his company.
