GEORGE TOWN – The high court here today dismissed a defamation suit filed by Baling MP Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim against former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng in connection with the construction of the Penang undersea tunnel project, Bernama reported today.
The decision was read by deputy registrar L. Umma Devi on behalf of judge Datuk Rosilah Yop in chambers, in the presence of counsel Mohamed Fudhail Ahmad Zulaini, who represented Azeez as the plaintiff, as well as counsels Datuk N. Mureli and Felix Lim, who represented Lim as the defendant.
The case was dismissed on the grounds that Azeez failed to prove his claims.
“The plaintiff did not have sufficient grounds to file a case and failed to produce sufficient proof,” Mureli said when met outside chambers, adding that the court rejected the suit made by the plaintiff at a cost of RM50,000.
Azeez filed the suit in March 2018, claiming that Lim, who was then finance minister, had issued defamatory statements during a press conference at the Penang Chief Minister's office on February 28, 2018, and during a Chinese New Year open house hosted by the Penang Development Corporation on the same day, connecting him (Azeez) with a payment of RM3 million in consultation fee by the developer of the undersea tunnel project.
Azeez claimed the statements gained widespread coverage and was published in a number of websites, electronic news sites and local newspapers, and is thus seeking, among others, general and exemplary damages and other relief deemed fit by the court.
He also applied for an injunction to prevent the defendant from republishing the statements. – The Vibes, December 11, 2020
