The Emerging Interests of the Paymaster in Malaysian Land Reference Proceedings: A Case Analysis

Abstract

Land acquisition in Malaysia has long been outlined as a balancing exercise between public interest and private rights of landowners, with compensation serving as the key instrument of fairness. Previous scholars have largely focused on this dual tension. However, recent judicial developments acknowledge the emergence of a third stakeholder which is the paymaster. Paymaster, often the concessionaires or acquiring bodies are those duty-bound in the development of an acquired land and financially responsible for the payment of compensation to the landowners. Although the paymaster holds no proprietary interest in the acquired land, Malaysian courts have recognized them as “person interested” within the ambit of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 (“LAA”). Recently, courts have also recognized their right to intervene in land reference proceedings, seek extensions of time to participate, object to the awards given by the Land Administrator (“LA”) and challenge procedural impropriety by the LA. This judicial recognition complicates the traditional framework of land acquisition by expanding a new layer of interest that must be balanced alongside those of the State and landowners. Relying on case law analysis, this paper argues that the recognition of the paymaster’s interest marks a significant shift in Malaysian land acquisition law, raising urgent questions of fairness, accountability and the proper scope of paymaster’s rights to be embedded or expressly excluded in the LAA. The study reveals that the judicial recognition accorded to paymaster has allowed them to actively pursue every available procedural avenue under the LAA, often with the underlying aim of reducing the compensation to the detriment of landowners. By highlighting these issues, the paper contributes to the limited research on paymasters’ interests and lays the foundation for future reform-oriented research in the Malaysian land acquisition law.