KUALA LUMPUR – The Federal Court today ruled that Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and PKR did not defame the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) and its chairman with statements made on the company’s bank deposits and loan acquisitions.
Malaysiakini reported that the three-man bench dismissed the appeal by NFCorp and chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail, ordering them to pay Nurul Izzah and PKR RM50,000 in legal costs.
Salleh and NFCorp initially filed a defamation suit against Nurul Izzah over statements she made in a parliamentary press conference nine years ago.
She alleged that RM71.4 million worth of public monies designated for the feedlot project was used as leverage to buy condominium units.
The suit was given leave to NFCorp and Salleh on March 8, 2018 to the Federal Court.
In today’s judgement, they said that NFCorp and Salleh failed to negate arguments that the RM71.4 million placed in a fixed deposit account influenced the awarding of a loan to purchase the eight condo units valued at RM12 million.
The court also said to dispel these allegations, Salleh ought to have called someone from the bank to support his claims.
“The fact that the loan offer had expired is of little consequence. In fact, it would not be far-fetched to deduce, from the entirety of the evidence at the trial, and in the sense, as noted above, that there has been misuse of public funds for personal gain,” the apex court said.
The Federal Court bench is chaired by judges Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal. – The Vibes, March 1, 2021
