Lim Guan Eng.
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 26): The Federal Court in a majority decision today said Perkasa and its then president Datuk Ibrahim Ali have to pay RM150,000 in damages to former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng over the group’s defamatory statements published in October 2011, as ordered by a previous court.
The Federal Court’s three-judge panel chaired by Federal Court judge Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan had last September heard Lim’s appeal against the Malay rights group and Ibrahim, with two judges today deciding in the DAP secretary-general’s favour.
In reading out the summary of the majority judgment that was also agreed by Justice Nallini, Federal Court judge Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal said the High Court was more than justified in awarding compensation of RM150,000 to be paid by Perkasa and its officials which he noted was not excessive.
“In conclusion and for the reasons mentioned, a public officer when suing as an individual, whether suing in personal or official capacity is not prohibited from bringing a defamation action,” the judge said when reading out the summary in an online proceeding via Zoom.
“Accordingly, the appeal is allowed, the orders of the High Court in relation to the respondents here are hereby restored,” he said, when restoring the RM150,000 amount that the High Court had ordered Perkasa and Ibrahim Ali to pay.
Federal Court judge Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli also read his minority judgment, where he said Lim’s appeal should be dismissed. – Malay Mail
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