KUALA LUMPUR – The Court of Appeal today overruled the decision by the high court to exempt the Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah from giving evidence in court in relation to her defamation suit against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown, publishers GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd and Chong Ton Sin, and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd.
The three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah also held that the plaintiff should not have pursued her case through Order 14A of the Rules of the Court.
The two other judges sitting with Zabidin are Datuk E.S. Nantha Balan and Datuk Lee Heng Cheong.
Order 14A provides that a case can be disposed of by determining a point of law or construction of a document, without going to trial. However, the court decided that the matter should not have been made through Order 14A, but instead heard via trial.
Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who represented the defendants, also argued that the contents concerned must be looked into with context, saying those who invoke the court process must be prepared to present evidence.
On December 13, 2019, high court judge Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim held that the defendants had indeed defamed the sultanah, asserting that a passage in The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose book has cast aspersions on the plaintiff.
In her defense, Sultanah Nur Zahirah –represented by A.K. Vishnu Kumar and Datuk Mohd Haziq Pillay – argued that the content of the book will infer that she interfered in the state administration and used her influence to establish a sovereign wealth fund, which later became the 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
However, the defence argued the justification of fair comment and qualified privilege.
The sultanah is seeking RM100 million in damages from each defendant. – The Vibes, August 24, 2021
