Yeong Oon Kong v Lau Teck Poh & Ors

Appellant(s): Yeong Oon Kong

Respondent(s):

• Xxxx
• Chen Kuan Kuan
• Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Malaysia
• Pendaftar Pelesenan Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Malaysia

• Dato' Dr. Choo Kah Sing
• YA Datuk Dr Lim Hock Leng
• YA Dato' Sri Latifah Binti Haji Mohd Tahar

• The 1st respondent acquired three vehicle registration numbers, including "AQ", which were registered in his name by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) in December 2012.
• Following an MACC investigation, the JPJ cancelled the registration of "AQ" in the 1st respondent's name in 2013 without affording a hearing, prompting the 1st and 2nd respondents to initiate judicial review proceedings.
• While the judicial review was pending, the appellant registered "AQ" in his name in 2016, leading to competing claims over the number, which the Court of Appeal remitted to the High Court for determination.

• Whether the High Court correctly applied the nullity principle in quashing the cancellation of the registration number "AQ" in the 1st respondent's name.
• Whether the original applicants for judicial review had correctly invoked the relevant statutory provision and identified the final administrative decision for challenge.
• Whether the "Second Actor Theory" should apply to validate the appellant's 2016 registration of "AQ", given the subsequent declaration of unlawfulness of the earlier cancellation.

• The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the High Court's decision, and declared the appellant as the rightful owner of the vehicle registration number "AQ".
• The Court found that the High Court erred by overemphasizing the retroactive effect of the certiorari order, overlooking that the 2013 cancellation, though later quashed, was a subsisting factual act capable of legal consequences until formally set aside.
• Applying the "Second Actor Theory", the Court held that the 2016 registration of "AQ" to the appellant by the JPJ was valid, as the JPJ (the "Second Actor") relied on the extant, albeit later invalidated, cancellation of the 1st respondent's registration.