Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad Platinum Techsolve Sdn Bhd & 4 Ors

Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad Platinum Techsolve Sdn Bhd & 4 Ors

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court discovery order and held that the DSA was solicitor work-product in MDV's possession, remained a privileged draft not disclosed to the counterparty, privilege had not been waived by mere knowledge of terms, and the DSA was not relevant or necessary to dispose fairly of the proceedings given respondents' pleaded case relied on correspondence and discussions rather than the draft; accordingly discovery was refused.

Citation
W-02(IM)(MUA)-1082-06/2019 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Parties
Appellant/plaintiff: Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad; 1st Respondent/defendant: Platinum Techsolve Sdn. Bhd.; 2nd Respondent/corporate Guarantor: Graphene Nanochem Plc; 3rd Respondent/personal Guarantor: Jespal Singh Deol a/l Balbir Singh @ Muhammad Imran bin Abdullah; 4th Respondent/personal Guarantor: Sushil Singh Sidhu a/l Joginder Singh; 5th Respondent/personal Guarantor: Anbananthan a/l Shanmugam
Court
IM
Jurisdiction
Malaysia
Judgment Date
13 May 2020
Case Number
W-02(IM)(MUA)-1082-06/2019 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal (discovery) / Appeal to Court of Appeal From High Court Discovery Order
Outcome
Appeal allowed; High Court discovery order set aside
Legal Topics
Legal Professional Privilege, Discovery of Documents, Draft Settlement Agreements, Relevance and Necessity, Waiver and Estoppel
Source Language
Malay/English
Civil Procedure Evidence Contract Law Corporate Law Legal Professional Privilege Discovery of Documents Draft Settlement Agreements Relevance and Necessity +1 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 26 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 4
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad

Appellant/plaintiff

Platinum Techsolve Sdn. Bhd.

1st Respondent/defendant

Graphene Nanochem Plc

2nd Respondent/corporate Guarantor

Jespal Singh Deol a/l Balbir Singh @ Muhammad Imran bin Abdullah

3rd Respondent/personal Guarantor

Sushil Singh Sidhu a/l Joginder Singh

4th Respondent/personal Guarantor

Anbananthan a/l Shanmugam

5th Respondent/personal Guarantor

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal (discovery) / Appeal to Court of Appeal From High Court Discovery Order

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether a draft settlement agreement prepared by solicitors and retained by client but not disclosed to counterparty is protected by legal professional privilege under s.126 Evidence Act 1950
  2. 2 Whether knowledge by the counterparty of the general terms deprives the client of privilege over the solicitor’s draft work-product
  3. 3 Whether the draft settlement agreement was relevant and necessary for the fair disposal of the action and counterclaim under Order 24 r.7 and r.8 ROC

Ratio Decidendi

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court discovery order and held that the DSA was solicitor work-product in MDV's possession, remained a privileged draft not disclosed to the counterparty, privilege had not been waived by mere knowledge of terms, and the DSA was not relevant or necessary to dispose fairly of the proceedings given respondents' pleaded case relied on correspondence and discussions rather than the draft; accordingly discovery was refused.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed; High Court discovery order set aside

Orders

  • High Court order dated 29 May 2019 granting discovery of the draft settlement agreement set aside
  • Order that the respondents pay costs of RM15,000.00 to Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (subject to allocatur)