Alsagoff v Aljunied: Striking Out Action Over Upper Dickson Road Properties

In Syed Ahmad Jamal Alsagoff and others v Harun Bin Syed Hussain Aljunied and others, the Singapore High Court dismissed the defendants' application to strike out three actions concerning properties on Upper Dickson Road. The plaintiffs, administrators and beneficiaries of estates holding leasehold interests, allege fraudulent conveyance by former trustees to BMS Hotel Properties Pte Ltd. The defendants, present trustees, sought to strike out the actions as an abuse of process, citing previous orders. Justice Belinda Ang Saw Ean dismissed the striking out applications, finding no res judicata and justifying the new proceedings due to complexities and allegations of fraud.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Striking out application dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

The High Court dismissed an application to strike out actions relating to properties on Upper Dickson Road, concerning leasehold interests and alleged fraud.

1.7 Decision Date

25 November 2010

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
BMS Hotel Properties Pte Ltd	Defendant	Corporation	Neutral	Neutral
Syed Ahmad Jamal Alsagoff (administrator of the estate of Noor bte Abdulgader Harharah, (deceased) and others	Plaintiff	Other	Application to strike out dismissed	Won	Mirza Namazie of Mallal & Namazie Wong Khai Leng of Mallal & Namazie TM Tan of Mallal & Namazie
Harun Bin Syed Hussain Aljunied (alias Harun Aljunied) and others	Defendant	Other	Application to strike out dismissed	Lost	Kirpal Singh of Kirpal & Associates

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Belinda Ang Saw Ean	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Mirza Namazie	Mallal & Namazie
Wong Khai Leng	Mallal & Namazie
TM Tan	Mallal & Namazie
Kirpal Singh	Kirpal & Associates

4. Facts

D1 and D2 applied to strike out three actions relating to properties on Upper Dickson Road.
The 2010 Plaintiffs claim the former trustees fraudulently conveyed leasehold interests to BMS Hotel.
The former trustees were allegedly appointed by an irregular 1992 Order of Court.
BMS Hotel did not appear in the proceedings.
D1 and D2 interfered with the possession of the properties by demanding rental from tenants.
The 2010 Plaintiffs seek a declaration that the transfer of the leasehold to BMS Hotel was null and void.
The May 1999 Orders granted BMS Hotel possession of the properties and struck out a related action.
The full sale consideration for the properties was not paid to the former trustees.

5. Formal Citations

Syed Ahmad Jamal Alsagoff (administrator of the estate of Noor bte Abdulgader Harharah, (deceased) and others v Harun Bin Syed Hussain Aljunied (alias Harun Aljunied) and others and other suits, Suit Nos 263, 264 and 271 of 2010 (SUM Nos 2248, 2250 and 2249 of 2010), [2010] SGHC 347

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1877-12-27	Deed granted leasehold interest in the properties for 999 years.
1892-01-01	Ahmad Aljunied became the owner of the properties in fee simple.
1894-01-01	Ahmad Aljunied died.
1969-01-01	999-year leasehold interest assigned to various individuals for each property.
1973-01-01	Assignment of one-third share in the leasehold interest of No 20 to Noor binte Abdulgader Harharah.
1973-08-18	Mohamad died.
1973-02-16	Fitom died.
1990-12-12	Noor binte Abdulgader Harharah died.
1992-11-27	Order of Court in Originating Summons No 1122 of 1992 appointed former trustees.
1994-05-12	Former trustees purported to transfer the leasehold and freehold reversion in the three properties to BMS Hotel.
1994-11-01	Deed of Rectification and Confirmation confirmed conveyance to BMS Hotel.
1997-05-17	Ali died.
1998-02-10	Order of Court appointed new trustees.
1998-10-30	Ahmad Alhadad declared bankrupt.
1999-05-28	Orders made at pre-trial conference in Originating Summons No 1234 of 1994 and Originating Summons No 1052 of 1995.
2009-10-19	Indenture of Appointment appointed D2 as trustee.
2009-11-25	February 1998 Order registered.
2010-03-01	D1 and D2 interfered with possession of the properties.
2010-04-09	D1 and D2 claimed to have taken possession of the properties.
2010-04-15	ACRA search obtained.
2010-08-12	Striking out applications dismissed.
2010-08-30	Costs orders made.
2010-11-26	Decision Date

7. Legal Issues

Abuse of Process
- Outcome: The court held that the proceedings were not an abuse of process.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Collateral attack on prior court orders
  - Duplicity of proceedings
- Related Cases:
  - [2001] 3 SLR(R) 296
  - [2010] SGHC 192
  - [1984] 1 WLR 1109
  - [1986] 2 Lloyds Rep 580
  - [1997] 3 SLR(R) 649
Issue Estoppel
- Outcome: The court held that no issue estoppel applied.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [1964] AC 993
  - [1939] AC 1
Fraud
- Outcome: The court noted the allegations of fraud, which were a factor in allowing the proceedings to continue.
- Category: Substantive
Validity of Conveyance
- Outcome: The court deferred the determination of the validity of the conveyance to trial.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Declaration that transfer of leasehold is null and void
Order to rectify the Register of Deeds
Declaration that D1 and D2 have intermeddled in the leasehold interest
Setting aside the May 1999 Orders

9. Cause of Actions

Fraudulent Conveyance
Interference with Property Rights
Breach of Trust

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Real Estate Litigation

11. Industries

Real Estate

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Alwee Alkaff v Syed Jafaralsadeg and others	High Court	Yes	[1997] 3 SLR(R) 419	Singapore	Cited regarding the principle that non-payment alone did not entitle the former trustee to forfeit the leases.
Setiadi Hendrawan v OCBC Securities Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2001] 3 SLR(R) 296	Singapore	Cited by the defendant, but found irrelevant by the judge.
Kok Hoong v Leong Cheong Kweng Mines Ltd	Privy Council	Yes	[1964] AC 993	United Kingdom	Cited for the principle that default judgments must be scrutinized with extreme particularity to ascertain what they necessarily decided.
New Brunswick Railway Co v British & French Trust Corporation	House of Lords	Yes	[1939] AC 1	United Kingdom	Cited in Kok Hoong v Leong Cheong Kweng Mines Ltd regarding the interpretation of default judgments.
Hong Hin Kit Edward v PT Nusautama Medicalindo	High Court	Yes	[2010] SGHC 192	Singapore	Cited by the defendant regarding resolving matters in prior actions, but distinguished by the judge.
Buckland v Palmer	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1984] 1 WLR 1109	England and Wales	Cited regarding the principle that bringing a second action based on the same cause of action is an abuse of process.
The Silver Athens	Not Available	Yes	[1986] 2 Lloyds Rep 580	Not Available	Cited regarding the principle that bringing a second action based on the same cause of action is an abuse of process.
Gabriel Peter & Partners v Wee Chong Jin	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1997] 3 SLR(R) 649	Singapore	Cited for the wide interpretation of 'abuse of process'.
Syed Salim Alhadad & others v Dickson Holdings Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[1997] 1 SLR(R) 228	Singapore	Cited for the court's finding that two of the former trustees were not persons beneficially interested in the estate of Ahmad Aljunied.
Sum Keong Realty Pte Ltd v Syed Jafaralsadeg Alhadad	High Court	Yes	[1996] 2 SLR(R) 356	Singapore	Cited regarding registration of deeds and its effect on priority.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Rules of Court (Cap 322, Rev Ed 1997) O 34A r (6) (1)	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 1996 Rev Ed) s 130(1)	Singapore
Registration of Deeds Act (Cap 269,1989 Rev Ed) s 4	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act s 76(1)(c)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Leasehold Interest
Freehold Reversion
Conveyance
Former Trustees
Constructive Trustees
Intermeddling
Striking Out Application
Abuse of Process
May 1999 Orders
Beneficiaries
Administrators
Estate of Ahmad Aljunied

15.2 Keywords

leasehold
trustees
fraud
striking out
property
Singapore
Dickson Road

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Property Law	75
Trust Law	60
Estate Administration	50
Civil Procedure	40
Conveyancing	35
Contract Law	30
Company Law	20
Bankruptcy	15

16. Subjects

Civil Litigation
Property Law
Trusts
Bankruptcy