PEMPETISYEN YEAP LILY CHONG CHEE MING

PEMPETISYEN YEAP LILY CHONG CHEE MING

The court allowed discovery only to the extent necessary and clearly identified: respondent's sole bank account statements (Jan 2021–Sep 2022) for specified banks, pay-slips (Jan 2021–Sep 2022) from identified employers, current EPF statement, and sale documentation for the Seri Kembangan property, but disallowed company documents (companies are separate legal entities and the request was premature and overly broad), partnership documents (petitioner could obtain them), requests for properties owned by companies, RHB credit card statement (vague/no timeframe) and joint account statements (accessible to petitioner).

Citation
WA-33-108-02/2022 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Parties
Petitioner: Yeap Lily; Respondent: Chong Chee Ming
Court
High Court
Jurisdiction
Malaysia
Judgment Date
15 March 2023
Case Number
WA-33-108-02/2022 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Procedural Posture
Divorce Petition (law Reform (marriage & Divorce) Act 1976) / Application for Discovery Under Order 24, Rules 3 and 7 of the Rules of Court 2012
Outcome
Application allowed in part and dismissed in part.
Legal Topics
Discovery of Documents, Matrimonial Assets, Division of Matrimonial Assets Under Section 76, Separate Legal Entity, Evidence of Income (pay Slips, Bank Statements, Epf)
Source Language
Malay/English
Family Law Civil Procedure Company Law Partnership Law Trusts and Property Discovery of Documents Matrimonial Assets Division of Matrimonial Assets Under Section 76 +2 more

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Parties

Yeap Lily

Petitioner

Chong Chee Ming

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Divorce Petition (law Reform (marriage & Divorce) Act 1976) / Application for Discovery Under Order 24, Rules 3 and 7 of the Rules of Court 2012

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether company documents of companies owned by the respondent are discoverable in matrimonial proceedings
  2. 2 Whether petitioner made a prima facie case of dissipation or relevance warranting broad discovery
  3. 3 Whether partnership documents of Chong Management Services are properly obtainable by court order

Ratio Decidendi

The court allowed discovery only to the extent necessary and clearly identified: respondent's sole bank account statements (Jan 2021–Sep 2022) for specified banks, pay-slips (Jan 2021–Sep 2022) from identified employers, current EPF statement, and sale documentation for the Seri Kembangan property, but disallowed company documents (companies are separate legal entities and the request was premature and overly broad), partnership documents (petitioner could obtain them), requests for properties owned by companies, RHB credit card statement (vague/no timeframe) and joint account statements (accessible to petitioner).

Court Disposition

Application allowed in part and dismissed in part.

Orders

  • Petitioner is granted discovery of respondent's sole bank account statements from January 2021 until September 2022 for respondent's sole accounts at CIMB Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Public Bank Berhad and current, savings and investment accounts at Maybank Bhd (identified account numbers).
  • Petitioner is granted discovery of respondent's pay-slips from January 2021 until September 2022 from Chong Management Services, CMS Secretarial & Tax Sdn Bhd, My Corporate Tax Sdn Bhd and My Taxation Sdn Bhd.