Delivering the judgment, Justice Azhahari Kamal Ramli, who chaired a three-member bench, ruled that there was no basis to attribute blame to the lawyer who represented the appellant, Ong Soo Kwee, 84, during proceedings in the High Court.
“Counsel could not be held to be flagrantly incompetent for failing to call the main witness, Ong, to testify,” he said.
Azhahari, who sat with Justices Evrol Mariette Peters and Aliza Sulaiman, also ordered Ong to pay RM90,000 in costs to the nine respondents, six of whom are his siblings.
The phrase “flagrantly incompetent” was notably used by the Federal Court in a 2021 criminal case involving a Yemeni national convicted of drug trafficking.
A three-member bench chaired by then chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat held that the accused’s previous lawyer had been “flagrantly incompetent” because he was suffering from a serious illness that prevented him from mounting a credible defence.
In the present case, Ong filed his suit in 2021 in relation to the estate of his mother, who held assets in multiple jurisdictions.
Among others, he sought to claim ownership of three boxes containing valuables and jewellery belonging to the deceased.
The claim to one of the boxes was also based on a note purportedly written by his mother.
He named the trustees and beneficiaries of his mother’s estate as defendants in the originating summons, which was later converted into a writ action, requiring the parties to call witnesses to prove their respective cases.
During the trial, the defendants called a handwriting expert to dispute the authenticity of the note, contending that it had not been written by the deceased.
Two witnesses were called by the plaintiff, but Ong himself did not testify.
In 2024, the High Court dismissed the suit on grounds that the claim was res judicata – having already been adjudicated by a competent court – as an earlier High Court ruling had determined entitlement to the boxes.
Justice Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, now a Court of Appeal judge, had held that Ong had failed to prove his case against the defendants on a balance of probabilities.
Lawyers Tang Keen Cheong, Tai Hong Shieh and Lee Mun Ping appeared for Ong today.
Counsel Daniel Albert, Nicholas Yap and Amanda Yap represented Ong Soo Keok and Ong Ghee Soon.
Lawyers Ranjit Singh and Hazel Siau appeared for Ong Ghee Sai, Ong Soo Kit, Khong Kok Yew, Khong Kok Yun and Khong Kok Yau, while counsel Ong Chern Yii represented Ong Ghee Sai and Ong Giok Pin.