Court reinstates judicial review bid by Vincent Tan-led firm

PETALING JAYA: The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has reinstated a judicial review application filed by Cekap Urus Sdn Bhd against the government, the finance ministry and Spanco Sdn Bhd over a decision to terminate the letter of intent for a multi-million ringgit vehicle fleet concession.

According to The Edge, this follows the decision of Cekap Urus to continue its legal challenge and withdraw the notice of discontinuance that it had filed last August.

High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Shaid fixed March 12 next year to hear the merits of the judicial review.

He also ordered Cekap Urus to pay costs of RM1,000 to the government as well as Spanco Sdn Bhd.

Lawyer Chuar Kia Lin represented Cekap Urus while Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, Navpreet Singh and Edmund Choi acted for Spanco. Federal counsel Sallehuddin Ali appeared for the government.

In August, it was reported that Cekap Urus had filed a notice of discontinuance to withdraw the action but that Spanco had disagreed with the terms of the withdrawal.

According to the report, Cekap Urus is a joint-venture between tycoon Vincent Tan’s Berjaya Corp Bhd, Naza Corp Holdings Sdn Bhd and Tunku Aminah Sultan Ibrahim Ismail.

Cekap Urus was given a letter of intent by the ministry of finance for the government fleet management contract in early 2019.

At a press conference last year, Tan claimed that three months after Muhyiddin Yassin became prime minister, he was notified that the deal had been terminated.

He also alleged that the tender had reverted to Spanco, despite the Berjaya-Naza bid being RM700 million cheaper than Spanco’s offer.

In 2018, the government had called on companies to bid for a contract to supply, maintain and manage its fleet of official vehicles – numbering about 12,500 – for the next 15 years.

Aside from Berjaya-Naza, several other companies submitted their bids, including Sime Darby Bhd, DRB-Hicom Bhd, Samling Group, Comos, Go Auto, and Spanco, which had held the concession since 1994.