PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal has fixed August 8 to hear former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali’s appeal against a high court’s dismissal of his RM10 million defamation lawsuit against Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang.
Apandi’s counsel M. Visvanathan as well as lawyer Simranjit Kaur Chhran representing Lim confirmed the hearing date after case management before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Ahmad Fairuz Mohd Puzi today.
On May 23 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Apandi’s suit against the DAP veteran for allegedly defaming him in an article on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
In his suit filed on July 5, 2019, Apandi claimed that on May 6, 2019, Lim had written and caused to be published an article titled “Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia’s on the road to integrity” in Malaysiakini.
He claimed the allegedly libellous words in the article implied that he was involved in crime and had abetted in the 1MDB financial scandal, was a person with no morals and integrity, was unethical and had abused his power when he was the AG.
Apandi, who was the AG from July 27, 2015, to June 4, 2018, contended that the libellous words were untrue and written with the intention of tarnishing his image and credibility as a former Malaysian AG for cheap publicity.
He sought aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as RM10 million in general damages, an injunction to prevent Lim and/or his agents from publishing the alleged defamatory words again and other relief deemed fit by the court.
Apandi filed the appeal on May 24 last year. – Bernama, July 25, 2023
