Temple management drops bid to revive injunction against landowner

The management of a temple has withdrawn its bid for leave to appeal, ending its attempt to revive an injunction that had temporarily barred landowner Yayasan Kubra from demolishing the temple.

Lawyer Amanda Sonia Mathew, appearing for the temple management, told a three-member Court of Appeal bench that she had been instructed to withdraw the application for leave to appeal.

As the case originated in the magistrates' court, the temple management had to first obtain leave from the Court of Appeal before its appeal could be heard.

Justice Noorin Badaruddin, who chaired the bench, as well as Justices Radzi Abdul Hamid and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, struck out the application following its withdrawal and ordered the temple management to pay RM10,000 in costs to Yayasan Kubra.

Yayasan Kubra was represented by Ahmad Khalil Rofiee, Hariz Yusoff, Zainal Rijal Abu Bakar, Danial Farhan Zainal Rijal and Arham Rahimy.

On March 31, the High Court set aside a Selayang magistrates' court order that had temporarily barred Yayasan Kubra from demolishing the temple.

The injunction was granted on March 13 after magistrate Chai Guan Hock ruled that Yayasan Kubra could not carry out demolition work at the temple as there was a dispute concerning the land.

Chai noted that the temple had existed at the site since 1995, while the current landowner had owned the land since 2021.

The dispute came into the spotlight on Feb 11 when police arrested four men who allegedly attempted to demolish part of the temple.

Selangor police chief Shazeli Kahar later said investigations found that the men had demolished part of the temple without first discussing the matter with the temple management or notifying the relevant local authorities. They were subsequently released.

Although the temple management does not dispute that Yayasan Kubra is the registered owner of the land, it maintains that the partial demolition of the temple was unlawful.