KUALA LUMPUR – The high court has set April 14 for hearing to assess the quantum of damages sought by former finance minister Lim Guan Eng in his defamation suit against blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, over the latter’s claims of corruption in the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project.
His lawyer, Simon Murali, told reporters the matter was earlier fixed for hearing before Judge Datin Rohani Ismail today, but it had been vacated and April 14 has been set as the new date for the hearing.
Lim filed the suit on September 6, 2019, over a series of articles carried on Raja Petra’s online news portal, Malaysia Today, between February 24 to March 15, 2019.
On February 28 last year, Lim obtained a default judgment against Raja Petra, as the blogger did contest the suit.
The purported defamatory articles are with regards to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigation into alleged corruption in the infrastructure project.
The former Penang chief minister had sought exemplary damages on grounds that Raja Petra had profited from the huge volume of readership on said articles.
The Bagan MP had also among others sought a front-page apology on Raja Petra’s news portal, and an injunction to prevent the blogger from repeating his allegations.
The DAP secretary-general filed an application for a judgment in default after Raja Petra failed to respond to the notice of the suit that Lim placed in three newspapers this year.
Lim had also attempted to serve the writ and statement of claim to Raja Petra by personal service at the blogger’s last known address which was obtained from the National Registration Department and the Election Commission, but was unsuccessful. – Bernama, February 22, 2021
