Indian court returns suit against Singapore-owned JV’s directors for re-filing

PETALING JAYA: A commercial court in Bengaluru, India has returned a memorandum of plaint filed by Singapore construction firm Lee Kim Tah (Pte) Ltd to the company for re-filing.

The order was made by commercial court judge Arjun S Mallur on Saturday.

“The plaint is ordered to be returned with all the documents to the plaintiff (Lee Kim Tah) for presentation before appropriate jurisdictional forum in accordance with law.

“Consequently interim order dated May 2, 2026 stands vacated forthwith,” the judge said, without setting out any reasons.

The ruling was made in a suit brought last month by Lee Kim Tah against Woh Hup (Private) Limited chairman Kim Yong and his brother Eugene, a director, for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties to Indian joint venture vehicle, L&W Construction Pte Ltd.

The now dissolved interim order had barred the Yong brothers from entering into transactions without board approval.

The brothers had contended that the Bengaluru commercial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

They had asked the court to “return the plaint” to Lee Kim Tah so it can be filed in the appropriate court “in the interest of justice and equity”.

The duo said the lawsuit did not fall within the definition of a “commercial dispute” and failed to meet the monetary threshold set by Indian law for adjudication by a commercial court.

L&W is involved in major projects in India linked to Temasek-backed developers CapitaLand and Mapletree.

In its suit, Lee Kim Tah claimed that CapitaLand had, in 2023, informed L&W’s board that the joint venture company’s employees had paid bribes to CapitaLand staff in connection with a project in Pune.

An independent governance audit was subsequently commissioned, and allegedly uncovered significant irregularities involving a senior executive.

The suit further claimed that a Singapore law firm had, also in 2023, recommended that L&W initiate legal action against the executive and his alleged accomplices.

The law firm suggested pursuing recovery of about 33 crore Indian rupees (approximately US$3.5 million), along with other improper payments, losses and the disgorgement of profits.

Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing into a criminal complaint filed against the senior executive, accused of abusing his authority to channel company funds to unauthorised parties through allegedly fake or duplicate invoices.

Indian police are understood to have visited L&W’s offices last week and interviewed staff members, who gave full cooperation.

Another former L&W executive—previously accused of bribery and held in judicial custody for nearly two years while awaiting trial—has already been acquitted.

He claims he was framed by the senior executive after acting as a whistleblower to expose alleged wrongdoings, resulting in criminal proceedings.