Court dismisses bid to postpone developer’s takeover of temple site
SHAH ALAM: The High Court yesterday dismissed with costs an application by three devotees of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25 near Subang Jaya to defer implementation of the interim consent judgment and writ of possession by One City Development Sdn Bhd, the developer-owner of the temple site.
Judge M. Gunalan made the decision in chambers with regard to the application by the plaintiffs, namely S. Thangaraju, 37, M. Mohanakrishnan, 59, and S. Nagarajah, 52.
Besides One City Development, the trio had also named as the defendants one K. Chellappa; one M. Nagaraju; the Selangor Town and Country Planning director and the Selangor government.
Lawyer Claudia Cheah Pek Yee, for One City Development, said to reporters after the proceedings that the court decided, among other things, that the plaintiffs had no locus standi and that One City Development is the rightful owner of the land where the temple stands.
The plaintiffs had filed the application on Nov 12 to postpone the implementation of the interim consent judgment of March 11, 2014, and writ of possession that was to have been executed on Nov 22.
On Nov 10, they had also sought a court order to nullify the consent judgment and an injunction to prohibit the defendants and others from entering the temple compound and using coercion to take possession of the temple site.
On Nov 16, One City Development filed a notice of application to disqualify the plaintiffs' claim on the grounds that it is scandalous, frivolous or vexatious; can prejudice, embarrass or delay a fair trial and an abuse of the process of the court.
Under the consent judgment of March 11, 2014, at the Shah Alam High Court, four parties agreed to the relocation of the temple and to return the present temple site vacant to the owner.
The four parties are the state government; One City Development and two individuals claiming to be the temple administrators K. Chellappa and M. Nagaraju. Chellappa filed an objection to the move by One City Development to take back the temple site in 1996.
In the consent judgment, One City Development agreed to deposit RM1.5 million with the temple. The state government handed over a 0.4-hectare piece of land, located about three kilometres away, for the relocation of the temple.
Cheah also said that judge Gunalan decided to recuse himself from hearing another ex-parte application filed by 50 devotees of the temple against the same defendants in view of the prejudicial effect of the parties concerned and in the interest of fairness to the parties.
The application was for an injunction to, among others, prohibit One City Development, its agents or servants or employees from approaching the temple for the purpose of demolition or any other purpose until the court makes a final decision for all of these actions.
Based on the supporting affidavit of one M. Ramachandran, one of the 50 devotees, filed on Nov 19, One City Development issued a writ of possession and was in the process of executing the temple demolition on Nov 22.
Ramachandran, among others, claimed that going ahead with the demolition would arouse anger and disorder in the area of the temple and there is a possibility that it can lead to riots, as in the case of the temple in Padang Jawa, Klang.
The issue of the relocation of the temple triggered riots early Monday and Tuesday near the temple, resulting in a firefighter being seriously injured, several other people also hurt, 23 cars torched and a section of the One City Mall damaged.
The police have arrested 30 people so far to assist in the investigation into the riots.