SHAH ALAM, Oct 30 — The High Court here today ruled that a joint management body (JMB) cannot impose a blanket ban on keeping pets in private residential units through its house rules.

In a statement, lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal, who represented former national hurdler Noraseela Mohd Khalid, said the court partially allowed her application against the JMB of Shang Villa Condominium, declaring that House Rule 9.0 could not be used to prohibit her from keeping her three cats in her residential unit.

They said the court ruled that the mere presence of pets in a residential unit did not constitute a breach of house rules and that any enforcement action must be based on By-law 14 of the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 and supported by evidence.