MLJ Alerts: June 2024 (High Court)

“In a claim against a company for breach of contract, it is becoming increasing common for the plaintiff to also include as defendants, the directors of the company with the view to make the directors personally liable for the claim based on a cause of action in tort eg unlawful interference with the contract and or conspiracy with the company to injure the plaintiff.

What is often ignored is the trite principle that when a director acts in the exercise of his functions as a director and within the scope of his authority, he essentially acts in the company’s capacity and not his own. In other words, he is effectively the company. This means that if the law is to hold that the directors to be personally liable for the acts taken by the company in relation to a contract entered into by the company, when the directors are merely acting in the company’s capacity and in fulfilment of their duties towards the company, the separate legal personality doctrine will be effectively undermined.”

- Ong Chee Kwan J

Handskar (M) Sdn Bhd v Qube Medical Products Sdn Bhd & Anor [2024] 9 MLJ 237 at paras 1–2

• Pramod Nambiar (Francis Pereira & Shan) for the plaintiffs.

• Zairani bt Tugiran (Federal Counsel, Malacca State Legal Advisor’s Office) for the defendant.

• Iqbal Harith Liang (Fahri, Azzat & Co) for the applicant.

• Mohammad Sallehuddin bin Md Ali (Federal Counsel, Attorney General’s Chambers) for the respondent.

• Gan Jer Nynn (with Eshter Hor Su Ying) (Paul Cheah Assoc) for the plaintiffs.

• Maggie Khon (with Chong Xin Tian) (CP Khon & Assoc) for the defendant.

• Shanthiny Ya Ting a/p Anpalagam (Vin Law Co) for the plaintiff.

• Yuvaraj a/l Sugapathy (Sugapathy & Partners) for the defendant.

• S Suhendran (with Neoh Jin Keat, Rodney Gan and Kwong Chiew Ee) (Rahmat Lim & Partners) for the applicants.

• Renu Zechariah (with Faeqah Fuad) (AJ Chowdury) for the intervener.

• Jagjit Singh (with Akberdin Abdul Kader and Meor Hafiz bin Salehan) (Akberdin & Co); (Jagjit Singh & Co) for the appellant.

• Mohamad Shahrizzat bin Amadan (with Muhammad Aiman bin Azahan) (Deputy Public Prosecutor, Attorney General’s Chambers) for the respondent.

• Nitin Nadkarni (with Ivy Ling Yieng Ping and Jay Fong Jia Sheng) (Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill) for the appellant.

• Nor Jamilah Shuhadah bt Tohet (Senior Federal Counsel, Royal Malaysian Customs Department) for the respondents.

• Samreet Singh (Gurdip Sarjit & Co) bagi pihak plaintif.

• Mohd Hafizuddin (Ammar Ghalip bersamanya) (John & Assoc) bagi pihak defendan.

• Ng Aik Beng (AB Ng & Assoc) for the appellant.

• Mohana Krishnan a/l Ramachandran (Mohana Krishnan) for the respondent.

• Amanda Sonia Mathew (Raj & Sach) bagi pihak pemohon.

• Ahmad Armi Najamuddin bin Azmi (Pejabat Penasihat Undang-Undang Negeri Kelantan) bagi pihak responden.

• Phang Soon Mun (with Darren Ee) (Han & Partners) for the appellant.

• Low Yu Keen (Desmond Chan & Jeff Law) for the respondent.

• Muhammad Shafee bin Abdullah (with Wee Yeong Kang) (Shafee & Co) for the plaintiff.

• Gopal Sreenevasan (with Celine Lim Tze ***) (Cheang & Ariff) for the defendant.

• Premkumar Danapal (Hng & Partners) for the plaintiff.

• YC Chuah (Sim & Sean) for the defendants.

• Elson Beh Hong Shie (with Wai See Chua) (YC Wong) for the interveners/defendants.

• (Bharathi & Assoc) for the petitioner

• (Soo Thien Ming & Nashrah) for the respondent.

• Nik Mohd Fadli bin Nik Azlan (Deputy Public Prosecutor, Attorney General’s Chambers) for the prosecution.

• Alex Nandaseri De Silva (with Angeline Tay Lee Yin) (Bodipalar Ponnudurai De Silva) for the respondent.

• Shuroma Guha Thakurta (Manjit & Co) in Civil Appeal Nos AB-12BNCVC-2–03 of 2021, AB-12BNCVC-3–03 of 2021, AB-12BNCVC-4–03 of 2021 and AB-12BNCVC-5–03 of 2021 for the appellant.

• Ananth Shanmugam (Azim, Tunku Farik & Wong) in Civil Appeal No AB-12BNCVC-2–03 of 2021 for the respondent.

• Vinoshini Saminathan (Isharidah, Ho, Chong & Menon) in Civil Appeal No AB-12BNCVC-3–03 of 2021 for the respondent.

• Razlan Hadri Zulkifli (with Aina Shobri) (Gan Ho & Razlan Hadri) in Civil Appeal No AB-12BNCVC-4–03 of 2021 for the respondent.

• S Suresh (Kanaga, Suresh & Co) in Civil Appeal No AB-12BNCVC-5–03 of 2021 for the respondent.

• Awang Armadajaya bin Awang Mahmud (Hasshahari bin Johari dan Muhamad Hafizah Shafuan bersamanya) (Hasshahari & Partners) bagi pihak perayu.

• Rasyidah Murni bt Adzmi (Mohd Afif bin Ali, Siti Amirah bt Muhammad, Maziah bt Mohaide dan Julaila bt Jamaluddin bersamanya) (Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia) bagi pihak responden.

• Norliza Rasool Khan (with Janice and Deyvinah Ganesalingam) (Liza Khan & Chambers) for the plaintiff.

• R Kengadharan (R Kengadharan & Co) for the second defendant.

• Michael Soo Chow Ming (with Yu Shi Yang and Serene Khoo) (Shook Lin & Bok) for the plaintiffs.

• Teo Bong Kwang (with Loo Wai Hoong and Kathreena Jit Kaur Korotana) (Wong Jin Nee & Teo) for the defendant.

• Steven Cheok (with Soo An Qi) (Christopher & Lee Ong) for the plaintiff.

• Pathma Raj a/l Ramasamy (Pathma Raj Ramasamy & Co) for the defendant.

• Stefan Aaron Maman (Ann & Anuar) for the plaintiff.

• Chan Mun Fei (with Sharon Chong) (Chan Lee & Co) for the first and third defendants.

• Muhammad Adam Abdullah (with Khairunnisa Adriana bt Zainuddin) (Adam Abdullah & Mani) for the fourth defendant.

• N Surendran (with Shahid Adli and Nabila Khairuddin) (Daim & Gamany) for the applicant.

• Nur Irmawatie bt Daud (Senior Federal Counsel, Attorney General’s Chambers) for the respondents.

• Eizlan Farhan bin Nakhrowi (Cheang & Ariff) for the applicant

• Ahmad Hanir Hambaly (with Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa bt Othman) (Attorney General’s Chambers) for the respondent.

• V Sithambaram (with Ruebankumar) (Sitham & Assoc) for the plaintiff.

• Avinder Singh Gill (with Mohd Irwan Ismail and Chia Eng Yi) (Avinder Gill Chambers) for the first defendant.

• Nurul Hanani bt Azamuddin (Raj, Ong & Yudistra) for the second defendant.

• Foong Kar Yee (Dennis Nik & Wong) for the third defendant.

• S Sivaneindran (with James Khong and Kok Hao Ying) (James Khong) for the proposed intervener.

• Chong Yee Leong (with Kwong Chiew Ee and Cassandra Oh) (Rahmat Lim & Partners) for the plaintiff.

• Dhinesh Bhaskaran (with Wong Jia Jing) (Shearn Delamore & Co) for the defendant.

• Cheah Sin Chin (Sandra Lee) (Azwar) for plaintiff.

• Edran Yeo (Ehsan & Yeo) for defendant.

• A Onn (Alysha Onn bersamanya) (Onn & Partners) bagi pihak perayu.

• Gandhi a/l Palanisamy (Nurul Syahida bt Hamssin bersamanya) (Gandhi & Assoc) bagi pihak responden.

• David Dinesh Mathew (with David Ng and Ananthan Moorthi) (Steven Thiru & Sudhar Partnership) for the plaintiff.

• Etty Eliany bt Tesno (Selangor State Legal Advisor’s Office) for the first and second defendants.

• Govin T Durai (Govin T Durai & Co) for the third defendant.

• Mary Phoon Keat Mee (Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Kamar Penasihat Undang-Undang Negeri Selangor) bagi pihak perayu.

• (Syarifuddin Zaid Chambers) bagi pihak responden.

• (SS Seelan & Assoc) bagi pihak perayu.

• (Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Jabatan Peguam Negara) bagi pihak responden.

• Akberdin bin Abdul Kader (with Sulaiman Abdullah, Mohd Rafie bin Mohd Shafie, Mohd Reza bin Mohd Rafie, Ummi Kartini bt Abd Latiff, Meor Hafiz bin Salehan and Ardy Suffian bin Akberdin) (Akberdin & Co); (Chambers of Rafie Mohd Shafie & Assoc) for the plaintiff.

• Razlan Hadri (with Ranjit Singh, Ragunath Kesavan, Mureli Navaratnam, Navpreet Singh and Felix Lim) (Mureli Navaratnam) for the defendant.

• Sri Richgopinath (with Nur Muhaimin) (Joel & Mei) for the plaintiff.

• Kok Pok Chin (with Ng Pau Chze) (PC Kok & Co) for the third defendant.
  ureli Navaratnam, Navpreet Singh and Felix Lim) (Mureli Navaratnam) for the defendant.