Claimant appeals Indonesian court ruling on 1.72 trillion rupiah civil claim against Keppel unit

A CLAIMANT has appealed against an earlier South Jakarta District Court ruling that his 1.72 trillion rupiah (S$154.9 million) lawsuit against Kepland Investama, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corp , was inadmissible.

In a bourse filing on Friday (Jun 30), Keppel said that the appeal against the decision was submitted to the DKI Jakarta Province High Court. The original lawsuit had been ruled as inadmissible by the district court on Mar 27 this year.

Raden Saleh Abdul Malik alleged that he is the legal owner of land plots in Jakarta spanning 17,000 square metres. These plots include where the International Financial Centre Jakarta Tower 2 building complex is situated.

His claim is based on a “girik” – a document which is not considered proof of land ownership under Indonesian agrarian law.

Keppel said that Kepland’s Indonesian counsel maintains its opinion that its land certificates are the strongest proof of ownership, and that the company does not expect the appeal to have a material impact on its operations or overall financial performance.

Keppel shares rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.04 to close at S$6.71 on Friday before the announcement was made.