A three-member Federal Court bench chaired by Justice Zabariah Yusof said it was not in dispute that the liquidation of the company was bona fide and justified given it was in serious financial difficulties.
She said this was not a case involving Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967.
“This is not a case of wrongful dismissal by the respondent (Utusan).
“The appellants (ex-workers) should have first obtained relief under the Companies Act as this is purely a monetary claim.”
The judge cited Section 451(2) of the Companies Act 2016 that stipulates leave must be obtained from the winding-up court before legal proceedings can be brought against a company in a creditors’ voluntary winding-up.
Also on the panel which dismissed appeals brought by 211 former Utusan employees were Justices Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Rhodzariah Bujang.
The court, however, made no order as to costs.
The ex-Utusan employees had gone directly to the Industrial Court to seek the remedy of compensation against the company.
However, the liquidator raised a preliminary objection in those proceedings, saying that the Industrial Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.
They said the ex-workers should have either brought their claims within the winding-up process or obtained leave from the winding-up court to bring the Industrial Court action.
The Industrial Court agreed with the liquidator.
The ex-workers then filed a leave application in the High Court but it was dismissed by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, giving rise to the present appeal.
Lawyers Rajvinder Singh, Afdhilani Jusoh and Sera Foong appeared for Utusan, while counsel Tan Chong Li, Abdul Halim Abdul Karim and Tuan Earn Yee acted for the ex-employees.
Utusan Malaysia, the oldest Malay-language newspaper in the country, and Kosmo!, another daily published by the company, ceased operations on Oct 9, 2019 due to financial problems.
Utusan’s 862 employees were caught off guard by a notice issued by the company on the very day it ceased operations.
Utusan Malaysia is now published under a new owner.