Malaysian Court of Appeal holds third party cannot be ordered to pay damages directly to plaintiff in main suit
28 May 2020
Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya v Digital Viva Sdn Bhd & Anor [2020] 3 CLJ 520
In Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya v Digital Viva Sdn Bhd & Anor, the Malaysian Court of Appeal held that a third party who is made a party in a suit for breach of contract cannot be ordered to indemnify the defendant by paying damages directly to the plaintiff. To do so would offend the law on privity and the principle that third party proceedings for contribution or indemnity are independent of, and separate from, the main proceedings. Ordering the third party to pay the judgment sum and costs directly to the plaintiff is tantamount to entering judgment for the plaintiff against the third party, which would contravene Order 16 rule 7 of the Rules of Court 2012.