PUTRAJAYA, June 15 — The Court of Appeal today held a hearing via video conferencing where the three-member panel of judges convened at the Palace of Justice (POJ) in Putrajaya while the lawyers representing the parties in an industrial matter conducted the case in a court in Tawau, Sabah.
The three-member bench, comprising Justices Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, Datuk Nor Bee Arifin and P. Ravinthran, heard a dismissal case involving Ibrahim Abdul Manap, a former employee of Benta Wawasan Sdn Bhd, against the company.
In the court proceedings, which was livestreamed, Justice Abdul Karim, who headed the bench, had allowed a preliminary objection raised by the counsel representing Benta Wawasan to strike out the appeal with costs of RM5,000.
He said there was no notice of appeal submitted by the appellant to the respondent within the allotted period.
The preliminary objection was raised by the company’s counsel Mark Rosajoey over the submission of an appeal notice which he contended was served outside the period contrary to the provisions of the law, thus rendering the appeal incompetent.
Meanwhile, lawyer Connie Wong Jiin Yee, appearing for Ibrahim, argued that there was no non-compliance of service of the notice of appeal, adding that the preliminary objection does not stand and should be dismissed.
Ibrahim was employed by Benta Wawasan and held the post of manager of Gaharu Estate from December 1, 2005 until his dismissal on September 9, 2015 over his alleged failure to discharge his responsibility as the estate manager in accordance with the company’s guidelines and standard operating procedure relating to the construction of concrete culverts in the estate, which resulted in unreasonable losses to the company.
A domestic disciplinary inquiry was carried out by the company to investigate the complaints lodged against Ibrahim and the inquiry later recommended that his services be terminated.
He then brought the matter before the Industrial Court, contending that his dismissal was without just cause or excuse. The Industrial Court, after hearing evidence from both parties, found that Ibrahim had proven his case on the balance of probabilities.
The Industrial Court found Ibrahim’s dismissal to be without just cause or excuse and ordered Benta Wawasan to pay him (Ibrahim) RM132,302 in compensation on the grounds that the termination was rendered unfair and unlawful.
The High Court granted a certiorari order to Benta Wawasan to quash the Industrial Court’s decision. — Bernama
