Land Reversion to the State

MBEG 1053Presentation QuestionsGroup 81Section 53 Issue (1): Land was alienated in 1901. The category of land was not stated on the title.

NLC 1965 Commencement Date: 1 Jan 1966Section 53, implied conditionsCase Law referred:Garden City Development Berhad v. Collector of Land Revenue, Federal Territory Le Hazen Resources Sdn Bhd v. Land Administrator of Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur Case LawLand Reversion to the StateThere are several circumstances for alienated land will revert to the State in NLC Section 46(1).S 46(1) NLC(a) upon the expiry of the term (if any) specified in the document of title thereto;(b) upon the publication in the Gazette of a notice under section 130 (that is to say, a notice published on the making of an order of forfeiture by the Land Administrator on the grounds of non-payment of rent or breach of condition);(c) in the circumstances mentioned in sections 351 and 352 (which relate respectively to the death of a proprietor without successors, and the abandonment of title by proprietors); and(d) upon the surrender thereof in accordance with the provisions of Part TwelveSection 195 204Part TwelveSectionSection 195Power to aproveSurrender whole or partSection 196Conditions of approvalSection 197Approval surrender of wholeSurrender of wholeSection 198Procedure of applicationSection 199Re-vesting of landSection 200Surrender part of landSurrender of partSection 201Procedure of applicationSection 202Re-vesting part of landSection 203Application and procedure of Surrender and re-alienation FORM 12CSurrender & re-alienationSection 204 A-HProcedure of re-alienation & Special provisionFORM 12DIssueWhether SA can change the title condition upon submission of surrender and re-alienation by Skudai City Development.Cases: Pengarah Tanah & Galian, Wilayah Persekutuan v. Sri Lempah Enterprise Sdn. Bhd [1979] 1 MLJ 135Ipoh Garden Berhad v. Pengarah Tanah & Galian [1979] 1 MLJ 271According to Section 204E(3) :Provided that where the original title is a title in perpetuity, the period for which the land is to be re-alienated shall also be in perpetuity, and where the original title is for a period of years, the period for which the land is to be re-alienated shall not be less than the remainder of the period of the lease for which the land was held under the original title.

Pengarah Tanah & Galian, Wilayah Persekutuan v. Sri Lempah Enterprise Sdn. Bhd. Suffian LP said that:conditions to be valid must fairly and reasonably relate to the permitted development.

In Ipoh Garden Berhad v. Pengarah Tanah & Galian, Perak Raja Azlan Shah Ag. C.J. put his judgement: In my opinion, the present case falls to be decided on well established principles and they are to be found in the cases decided under the (U.K.) Town and Country Planning Acts. It is unfortunate that neither in the court below nor in this court has reference been made to any of them. The Acts empower planning authorities to refuse permission or to grant permission unconditionally or to impose such conditions as they think fit. On principle and authority, the discretionary power to impose such conditions as they think fit is not an uncontrolled discretion to impose whatever conditions they like