PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has fixed Sept 22 to hear an appeal by former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in connection with his defamation lawsuit against Perkasa and two others.
Lawyer Adnan Seman, representing Perkasa and its president Ibrahim Datuk Ibrahim Ali, said the date was fixed after the matter came up for case management before deputy registrar Azniza Mohd Ali by way of e-review.
Lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu, representing Lim, in a text message, also confirmed the hearing date.
In July last year, the Federal Court granted leave to Lim to appeal against the decision of the appellate court which set aside the decision of a High Court in ordering Perkasa, Ibrahim and former Perkasa information chief Ruslan Kassim to pay damages to him.
The question of law consented by all parties was pertaining to Lim’s locus standi (legal standing) to maintain the lawsuit in his official capacity.
In December 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled that Lim, who was then Penang Chief Minister, could not sue the media for defamation in his official capacity.
In 2012, Lim sued Perkasa, Ibrahim, Ruslan, The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) and Utusan Melayu (M) Sdn Bhd over a statement which was published by Ruslan on Perkasa’s website on Oct 1, 2011 which implied he (Lim) was endangering national security by exposing the country’s secrets to Singapore.
The High Court, in 2015, ordered Perkasa, Ibrahim and Ruslan to pay RM150,000 in general and aggravated damages, while NSTP and Utusan were ordered to pay RM200,000 each in damages.
However, in the Federal Court, the publishers agreed to reinstate the High Court decision and pay Lim RM200,000 each in damages.
Lawyer Hussin Mohd Razak represented Ruslan.
— BERNAMA
