PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court has ruled that political parties cannot sue individuals for defamation.
Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, who chaired the seven-member bench, said the court has answered in the negative a question posed by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng to strike out a defamation suit filed against him by MCA.
The question is whether a political party can maintain a defamation suit in the light of the decision in Goldsmith v Bhoyrul (1998), an English case law that provided political parties cannot be claimants in defamation court cases.
In allowing the appeal by Lim, Rohana set aside the decisions of the high court and Court of Appeal, which dismissed Lim’s application to strike out the suit.
When handing down the decision, Rohana said the court agrees with the submissions by counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, the former Federal Court judge representing Lim.
She added that the court will give the grounds of judgment in the case.
In the proceedings, conducted via video conferencing, Sri Ram submitted that following the decisions in Goldsmith v Bhoyrul and Rajagopal v Jayalalitha, political parties could not sue for defamation.
He said both the government and political parties, being registered societies, cannot maintain a cause of action in defamation as government and societies have no reputation.
He added that the law of defamation protects the reputation of persons.
The court had wrongly decided in the case involving the Sarawak government against Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, where the apex court had ruled that the government could sue individuals for defamation, Sri Ram said.
In July 2017, then MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan, on behalf of the party, filed a defamation suit, in his capacity as a public officer, against Lim over remarks the latter made at a press conference in 2016 over allegations that MCA had used government funds allocated for Chinese vernacular schools.
Ong claimed that Lim’s remarks seriously injured MCA’s reputation, adding that the party was seeking RM100 million in general and exemplary damages.
In February 27, 2018, the high court rejected Lim’s application to strike out the suit and he lost his appeal at the Court of Appeal.
In the proceedings, Ong’s lawyer Ng Chew Hor argued that the suit should not be struck out, but should go for trial in the high court.
He said political parties have a reputation to be protected.
Lawyer Guok Ngek Seong, who also represented Lim, said as the Federal Court answered the question of law in the negative, it means that political parties cannot sue for defamation. – Bernama, March 4, 2021
