By Nur Aleeya Sabrina Norman
Section 214A of the National Land Code (NLC)[1] is the main provision which touches on the topic of estate land. As mentioned in Section 214A(11) and (12), estate land is defined as any agricultural land that is owned under one or more titles, in which the area is not less than 40 hectares and the land that forms such an area must be contiguous. The alienated land which is held under a title either final or qualified, will be taken as contiguous even if the land separated from one another by such land is utilised, acquired and secured for roads, railways or waterways. The procedures to make dealings such as transfer, convey or dispose of estate land are listed down in Section 214A of the National Land Code. In Section 214A(4), Form 14D must be submitted by the proprietor together with the one whom the land is being transferred to, conveyed to or disposed of to, during an application made to the Secretary of the Estate Land Board. According to Section 214A(6), after an application has been made, the Board shall make a decision based on majority of votes by the members or in the case where there is equality of votes, the Chairman shall have the casting vote. Hence, if the application is approved, the dealings of the estate land will be completed.
An issue arises on whether the transfer of estate land requires a mandatory approval of the estate land board (ELB)? By virtue of Section 214A(1), in order to dispose of, transfer or convey an estate land, an approval from the Estate Land Board (ELB) must be obtained. One of the cases which can be brought up to discussion is regarding the Court of Appeal case of Damai Jaya Realty Sdn Bhd v Pendaftar Hakmilik Tanah, Selangor.[2]The appellants in that case had purchased estate land through a public auction and was the successful bidder of the purchase price of RM48.5m. However, they were rejected by the Registrar of Land Titles of Selangor in the order for sale of the subject property. The rejection was due to the fact that the approval of the estate land board was not obtained. Judge Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan had applied Section 214A thoroughly to address the arising issue which he deemed to be of importance to the rule of law. It was established that estate land under the NLC requires the approval of the ELB, which falls under the purview of State Authority and as such includes the State Government of Selangor as well as all of its agencies. This means that State Authority has the power to control the decision of the ELB that comprises its secretary, state director and four members. Initially, the property could not even be charged without the consent of the State Authority. Nevertheless, the charge was granted which means that the State Authority must have consented in the past. Hence, appeal was allowed and the respondent must register the property under their responsibility to facilitate registration as a state authority. Therefore, it can be concluded that transfer of estate land requires a mandatory approval of the Estate Land Board (ELB).
Another issue relating to estate land is whether the estate land which is separated by a state land constitutes as contiguous and can be considered as an estate land? Section 214A(11) of the National Land Code has mentioned part of it that estate land must be an area which is contiguous. This is further explained in section 214A(12) of the same act whereby a land would be deemed as contiguous notwithstanding that the land are separated from each other by a land that is used, acquired or reserved for roads, railroads and waterways. This issue has been discussed in an appeal case of Erico Estates Sdn Bhd & Anor v The Registrar of Titles, Kedah.[3] The appellant had five agricultural lands under five separate titles within the same locality. Lot No.282, the disputed land and Lot No.279, which is 827 acres in size are among them in which both of the lots are divided by state land that forms the main route Kelang Bahru/Bagan Sena in Kulim, Kedah. It was held that the word ‘contiguous’ in section 214A(11) should be interpreted in accordance with the Parliament’s intention that is in its ordinary and strict meaning of ‘touching’ and not ‘neighbouring’. Hence, the two discussed lots are not estate land because it is separated by state land and not contiguous. It is important to note that section 214A(11) was made in order to prevent the fragmentation of estate land. The Parliament had imposed such restrictions vested in provision so that every application of transfer of estate land is subject to a more thorough investigation than ordinary land transfer. Thus, the estate land which is separated by state land does not constitute as contiguous.
To summarise, estate land is under the purview of the State Authority and requires that all of its conditions be fulfilled in order to transfer, convey, or dispose of such land. Its legislative intent can be retrieved back to the year 1969 as to prevent further fragmentation of land as well as to protect the livelihood of the estate workers. Hence, the conditions set up in Section 214A must be complied in a strict manner especially obtaining the approval of the Estate Land Board (ELB) before making any dealings relating to estate land.
Bibliography
Damai Jaya Realty Sdn Bhd v Pendaftar Hakmilik Tanah, Selangor [2015] 2 MLJ 768.
Erico Estates Sdn Bhd & Anor v The Registrar of Titles, Kedah [1980] 2 MLJ 293.
Section 214A of the National Land Code (Revised 2020), Act 828.
[1] Section 214A of the National Land Code (Revised 2020), Act 828.
[2] Damai Jaya Realty Sdn Bhd v Pendaftar Hakmilik Tanah, Selangor [2015] 2 MLJ 768.
[3] Erico Estates Sdn Bhd & Anor v The Registrar of Titles, Kedah [1980] 2 MLJ 293.