PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal has fixed October 28 to hear Lim Guan Eng’s appeal on the quantum of damages that Utusan Melayu Bhd has to pay to the former finance minister in his defamation suit.
The hearing date was fixed during a case management today via e-review.
Earlier today, the case came up for mention before a Court of Appeal three-member bench comprising Datuk Lee Swee Seng, Datuk Indera Mohd Sofian Abd Razak and Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya.
In proceedings conducted online, lawyer Felix Lim told the bench that his client (Lim) obtained leave from the Penang High Court on August 15 this year to proceed with his appeal against Utusan Melayu, which was placed under creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
“Therefore, we pray for further direction from the court with regard to this appeal,” he said.
Lee also allowed Lim’s application to amend his notice of appeal after lawyers, Emily Wong and Siti Nur Amirah Aqilah Adzman, appearing for Utusan Melayu and its former feature and analysis editor Zulkifli Jalil, respectively did not object to the application.
Justice Lee then sent the matter for case management for a hearing date to be fixed.
On September 27, 2018, Utusan Melayu and Zulkifli agreed to settle the libel suit with Lim and the publication, although Zulkifli had already tendered an apology to him in the open court.
The apology was part of a consent judgment in Lim’s defamation suit against Utusan Melayu and Zulkifli. As part of the settlement, Utusan Melayu was also required to publish an apology in its newspaper.
On November 24, 2018, the Penang High Court fixed RM30,000 as the quantum of damages that Utusan Melayu has to pay Lim in the defamation suit over the publication of a defamatory article concerning allegations pertaining to wakaf land.
Lim filed the defamation suit against Utusan Melayu and Zulkifli over the article titled “Pengundi Atas Pagar Jadi Penentu?” published on April 10, 2015. – Bernama, September 15, 2021
