The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the decision of the High Court in Kota Bharu not to stop several companies’ operations in a patch of jungle in Gua Musang, Kelantan, which a group of Orang Asli appellants claim encroached on their ancestral land.

The Temiar villagers from Kampung Kelaik had sought an injunction to stop further encroachment of the land by a collection of mining, logging and plantation companies that received the Kelantan government’s approval to operate on the land.

This is pending the settlement of a legal dispute...