SHAH ALAM: The High Court here fixed Dec 8 to allow Port Klang Authority (PKA) and Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) time to try and settle a RM720 million suit.
The date was decided following a case management before Judge Datuk Azimah Omar, who reprimanded counsels from both sides for delaying the suit, filed in 2009, three times.
She granted one last adjournment to next Monday for both parties to settle the matter, failing which, she insisted that a date for hearing will be fixed this year.
Lawyer D. Nimalan, representing PKA, said the two parties were in the midst of negotiation and a settlement resolution may be reached.
"Reaching a settlement is more than highly probable but because both lead counsels are away, we are yet unable to finalise the matter," he said.
Lawyer Chetan Jethwani, representing KDSB, said he only received the proposal from PKA last week and was meeting his clients this week.
"Chances (of settlement) are better than they were the last time I was in court. Things have improved but I have to get my client's feedback first.
"I do not see it (the feedback) taking anymore than a week," Chetan said.
Nimalan said a settlement might involve other inter-related suits but refused to clarify until a resolution is reached.
It was earlier reported by a financial daily that the PKA board had agreed to drop the suit in a special meeting in Putrajaya last month.
The suit, filed by PKA against KDSB, was among four it had filed in relation to the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.
According to reports, PKA was seeking a refund on the interest paid to KDSB for a piece of land worth RM1.88 billion and a declaration that an interest of RM720 million on the balance purchase price of the PKFZ land should not be charged.
The port authority also disputed the land value stipulated in an agreement signed between both parties in 2002, stating that each square foot should be priced at RM21 and not RM25.