Malaysia

High Court did not halt demolition of Rawang temple, lawyer says

A senior counsel for Yayasan Kubra has refuted media claims that the Magistrate’s Court in Selayang ordered a temporary stay on the demolition of the Rawang temple

Updated 6 months ago · Published on 14 Mar 2026 5:31PM

High Court did not halt demolition of Rawang temple, lawyer says
Yayasan Kubra’s lawyer says the court only directed parties to file written submissions on actual possession of the land amid a property dispute - March 14, 2026

ADVOCATE for Yayasan Kubra Muhammad Hariz Md Yusoff has denied that the Magistrate’s Court in Selayang ordered a temporary halt to demolition work at the Sri Uchimalai Muniswaran Temple in Taman Rawang Perdana, as reported by several media outlets.

He stated that, based on proceedings last Friday, the court was satisfied there was a complaint involving a dispute over immovable property in Rawang and the existence of a temple on the site since 1995, while the registered owner acquired the land only around 2021.

The lawyer added that the court also noted the dispute could potentially lead to tension among the local community if not properly addressed.

“Accordingly, the court directed the parties involved in this dispute to appear in court for a hearing under Section 99(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he said in a Facebook post.

“The parties must file and serve written statements relating to actual possession concerning the land in question. The hearing will be limited to issues relating to actual possession, that is, true ownership only. The court will not touch on issues of title or legal ownership of the land,” he explained.

Muhammad Hariz expressed surprise at media reports stating that the Selayang Magistrate’s Court had ordered the demolition of the temple to be temporarily stopped.

“Moreover, the term of the order ‘requiring demolition work at the Sri Uchimalai Muniswaran Temple in Taman Rawang Perdana to be temporarily halted until the issue is decided by the Shah Alam High Court’ is entirely misleading because no such words or order were pronounced by the Selayang Magistrate,” he said.

Earlier reports quoted the lawyers representing the management of the Sri Uchimala Muniswaran Temple, including Rajesh Nagarajan, as saying the court had made such an order. These reports also said Magistrate Chai Guan Hock made the decision after finding a dispute over the status of land ownership.

Commenting further, Muhammad Hariz said any misleading statements or manipulation that misattributes court orders could attract contempt proceedings against those who misrepresent the judicial process.

“For this purpose, I have been instructed by my client to obtain the magistrate’s grounds of judgment including the court proceeding notes (CRT) for the purpose of filing a review in the High Court later,” he said.

“Yayasan Kubra urges all parties not to manipulate or mislead the public with assumptions or conjecture that the court issued such an order when it did not,” he added.

He also said Yayasan Kubra is prepared to present facts and evidence in court in due course. - March 14, 2026

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