KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Sued for an allegedly illegal purchase of several plots of land in Johor, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) today passed the buck to the southern state government, saying it had nothing to do with the land acquisition for its giant oil refinery in Pengerang.

Petronas CEO Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar told reporters that the oil and gas giant had no direct dealings with any party acquiring land to build its controversial Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project.

“It’s got nothing to do with us,” he said.

Conglomerate MPHB Capital Bhd had named both Petronas and the Johor government in its lawsuit filed last Friday, accusing the two of “illegally acquiring” seven plots of land in Pengerang for the project.

The suit followed the defendants’ purchase of the land from MPHB’s wholly-owned subsidiary Kelana Megah Development Sdn Bhd (KMD).

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MPHB said it filed the suit following breaches of the Federal Constitution, the Land Acquisition Act 1960 and the National Land Code 1965.

Among others, KMD is looking for the return of said plots of land, and any damages arising from it.

MPHB Capital is involved in real estate, the hotel industry, general insurance, and financial services.

This is not the first time Petronas has shifted the blame to Johor for discrepancies in the RAPID project.

In June last year, Petronas had also blamed the state government for the delay of the project’s completion from 2016 to 2017.

The RAPID project is set to occupy over 2.43 hectares of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex’s (PIPC) 22,500 acres (9,105 hectares), which is home to some 28,000 Pengerang parliamentary constituents in the southernmost tip of Johor.

PIPC is a massive RM170 billion project that is expected to turn Malaysia into a mega petrochemical hub.