Banggi Quarry Sdn Bhd v Menteri Tenaga Dan Sumber Asli & Anor

Appellant(s): Banggi Quary Sdn Bhd

Respondent(s):

• Menteri Tenaga dan Sumber Asli
• Pesuruhjaya Tanah Persekutuan

• YA Dato' Lim Chong Fong
• YA Dato' Faizah Binti Jamaludin
• YA Datin Paduka Evrol Mariette Peters

• The appellant, a commercial mining company, was issued a licence for offshore sand mining but failed to commence operations or pay royalties, leading to the licence's termination by the first respondent.
• The appellant successfully challenged the termination through judicial review, resulting in the High Court quashing the termination decision in October 2022.
• Subsequently, the appellant filed a separate application seeking monetary compensation for alleged losses, which the High Court dismissed, prompting the present appeal.

• Whether the claim for monetary compensation was properly characterised as constitutional monetary compensation or, in substance, a claim for damages.
• Whether the claim for damages was procedurally barred due to the appellant's failure to plead it in the initial application for leave for judicial review.
• Whether the appellant had sufficiently proved the damages claimed.

• The Court held that the claim was, in substance, for damages arising from alleged infringement of commercial and contractual interests, not constitutional monetary compensation, as the public law wrong had already been remedied by an order of certiorari.
• The Court found the claim for damages procedurally defective under Order 53 rule 5(1)(a) of the Rules of Court 2012, as it was not included in the statement supporting the application for leave for judicial review, thereby precluding fresh proceedings on the same subject matter.
• The Court further ruled that the appellant failed to discharge the burden of proving damages with credible and particularised evidence, deeming the claims for loss of profits and revenue hypothetical and speculative.