IPOH: The High Court here has rejected a summary possession application by a company over a piece of agricultural land in Bidor Station.

Judicial Commissioner Bhupindar Singh Gurcharan Singh Preet also ordered the company, Finorama Sdn Bhd, to pay RM5,000 in costs to a group of 25 farmers, who were the respondents in the case.

Ng Kian Nam, who represented the farmers, thanked the court for the decision.

“I thank the Judicial Commissioner for accepting my argument that there was a flaw with the company’s lease rights because it was given to the company in 1990, (while) the company was only established in 1992.

“A company that has not existed is not eligible to acquire any lease rights, as stated under the Companies Act,” he said here on Tuesday (July 4).

Finorama had filed the application for the piece of land, about 97ha in size, in October 2021.

Ng said the farmers are urging the Perak Mentri Besar to allow their applications for lease to resolve the issue.

He said the application had been sent on behalf of the farmers to the Mentri Besar’s office a few years ago.

“The farmers are of the view that the lease rights should be given to settlers like them who are in agricultural activities.

“It (land lease) should not be given to a company that is only interested in investing and getting profit through leasing,” he said.

The farmers’ spokesman Elaine Tan thanked Ng for helping them fight the case voluntarily.

“For about two years, he has travelled between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur on numerous occasions to fight for us.

“We will not be evicted from the land where our ancestors toiled for more than three generations, and we are able to continue our livelihood,” she said.