Ruled: Orang Asli have proprietary interest in the land Sagong Tasi & 6 Ors v Kerajaan Negeri Selangor & 3 Ors Sagong Tasi was among 23 family heads from Bukit Tampoi in Dengkil, Selangor who had 38 acres of their land taken from them for the construction of the Nilai-Banting highway linking with the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 1995. Some also had their crops and dwellings destroyed. While they were paid a nominal amount for these, there was no compensation for the land. The authorities maintained that the Orang Asli were mere tenants on state land and as such were not entitled to compensation under the Land Acquisition Act 1960. With the help of a pro bono team of lawyers from the Bar Council, the Temuans took their case to court. They asserted that are the owners of the land by custom, the holders of native title to the land and the holders of usufructuary rights (i.e. right to use and derive profit) to the land. They also maintained that that their customary and propriety rights over the land, which they and their forefathers have occupied and cultivated for a long time, were not extinguished by any law. In April 2002 Justice Mohd Noor ruled that the Temuans did have native title under common law over their lands. And as such compensation was to be paid to them in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act, 1960. The four defendants (the Selangor State Government, United Engineers Malaysia (UEM), Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM), and the Federal Government) appealed. In October 2005, Justice Gopal Sri Ram sitting in the Court of Appeal with two others, unanimously threw out the appeal and held that the High Court was not misdirected when it decided, based on a large quantity of evidence and fact that were not challenged, to rule that the Temuans did indeed have propriety rights over their customary lands. As such, these lands should be treated as titled lands and therefore subject to compensation under the Land Acquisition Act.1 ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS 9