FMT:
Court of Appeal overturns RM50,000 defamation award to Guan Eng
The court also dismisses the ex-finance minister's cross-appeal, which seeks an increase in the damages awarded, and orders him to pay RM30,000 in costs
Lim Guan Eng sued former housing and local government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and MalaysiaNow’s publisher and editor for defamation over a report alleging that he had twice rejected a housing project for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today overturned a High Court ruling that former housing and local government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and two others pay RM50,000 in damages to DAP adviser Lim Guan Eng for defamation.
A three-member bench comprising Justices Firuz Jaffril, Ahmad Kamal Shahid and Amarjeet Singh unanimously allowed the appeals filed by Zuraida, MalaysiaNow editor Abdar Rahman Koya, and MNow Media Sdn Bhd.
The panel also dismissed Lim’s cross-appeal, which had sought an increase in the damages awarded, and ordered him to pay RM30,000 in costs.
Delivering the panel’s decision, Firuz said the article in question did not carry the defamatory meaning as alleged by Lim.
“We find that there were obvious errors in the judgment of the High Court and the verdict cannot stand,” he said, adding that the manner in which the High Court dealt with the defence was unsatisfactory.
Firuz said the High Court’s assessment of the defence of justification had been grounded solely in documentary evidence, without regard to the actual exchanges that took place between the two former ministers during their meeting.
He also pointed to inconsistencies in the High Court judge’s findings, noting that while she had found malice in one part of her ruling, she had simultaneously held that there was no evidence of malice in another.
The legal proceedings began on June 7, 2024, when Lim, a former finance minister, filed a defamation suit at the Shah Alam High Court against the defendants.
In his statement of claim, Lim alleged that Zuraida had made false statements concerning him in relation to a housing project for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya, Selangor.
In March this year, the High Court ruled in Lim’s favour, finding that the statements made against him were defamatory, and awarded him RM50,000 in damages.
Zuraida and the two other defendants appealed against the High Court’s decision, while Lim filed a cross-appeal challenging the quantum of damages awarded.
During the appellate proceedings, Lim’s counsel, SN Nair, contended that the RM50,000 awarded by the High Court was insufficient, arguing that case law supported an award of RM250,000.
However, the lawyer representing Zuraida and the two other appellants, Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid, submitted that the comments made by Zuraida, which were published by MNow Media, were not defamatory in nature.
He also urged the Court of Appeal to set aside the High Court’s ruling.
Nair told reporters after the proceedings that he would seek Lim’s instructions on whether to pursue the matter in the Federal Court.
A three-member bench comprising Justices Firuz Jaffril, Ahmad Kamal Shahid and Amarjeet Singh unanimously allowed the appeals filed by Zuraida, MalaysiaNow editor Abdar Rahman Koya, and MNow Media Sdn Bhd.
The panel also dismissed Lim’s cross-appeal, which had sought an increase in the damages awarded, and ordered him to pay RM30,000 in costs.
Delivering the panel’s decision, Firuz said the article in question did not carry the defamatory meaning as alleged by Lim.
“We find that there were obvious errors in the judgment of the High Court and the verdict cannot stand,” he said, adding that the manner in which the High Court dealt with the defence was unsatisfactory.
Firuz said the High Court’s assessment of the defence of justification had been grounded solely in documentary evidence, without regard to the actual exchanges that took place between the two former ministers during their meeting.
He also pointed to inconsistencies in the High Court judge’s findings, noting that while she had found malice in one part of her ruling, she had simultaneously held that there was no evidence of malice in another.
The legal proceedings began on June 7, 2024, when Lim, a former finance minister, filed a defamation suit at the Shah Alam High Court against the defendants.
In his statement of claim, Lim alleged that Zuraida had made false statements concerning him in relation to a housing project for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya, Selangor.
In March this year, the High Court ruled in Lim’s favour, finding that the statements made against him were defamatory, and awarded him RM50,000 in damages.
Zuraida and the two other defendants appealed against the High Court’s decision, while Lim filed a cross-appeal challenging the quantum of damages awarded.
During the appellate proceedings, Lim’s counsel, SN Nair, contended that the RM50,000 awarded by the High Court was insufficient, arguing that case law supported an award of RM250,000.
However, the lawyer representing Zuraida and the two other appellants, Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid, submitted that the comments made by Zuraida, which were published by MNow Media, were not defamatory in nature.
He also urged the Court of Appeal to set aside the High Court’s ruling.
Nair told reporters after the proceedings that he would seek Lim’s instructions on whether to pursue the matter in the Federal Court.
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