GEORGE TOWN – A former president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) has withdrawn a libel suit that he had filed against Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy over the holding of last year’s Thaipusam celebration in the state.
Earlier, R. S. Mohan Shan had accused Ramasamy of insulting him as a religious leader after both leaders became critical of each other over the issue of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures during the run-up to the festival.
Ramasamy’s lead counsel Shamsher Singh Thind relayed the information to The Vibes. He said that Judicial Commissioner Ros Mawar Rozain was informed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the plaintiff does not wish to continue pursuing the case after re-evaluating the matter
Ros Mawar proceeded to strike off the suit with no order as to costs, while also ruling that Mohan Shan will also not be allowed to file a new suit on the same issue in the future.
The defamation trial was scheduled to be heard five days from today.
MHS and Mohan Shan jointly filed the libel suit on March 8 last year, but the religious organisation withdrew last month on similar terms as Mohan Shan.
The suit was based on a Facebook post by Ramasamy last year, where he had urged Mohan to stop being a “busybody”.
He was responding to Mohan Shan’s warning about the danger of a cluster forming after Thaipusam, especially since the Omicron variant had emerged then. – The Vibes, April 10, 2023
