The Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered the New Straits Timesto pay RM200,000 to PPP president M Kayveas for defamation.
Judicial Commissioner Siti Khadijah S Hassan Badjenid also ordered the Umno-linked daily to pay RM5,000 in costs.
The order was made by the judicial commissioner after Siti Khadijah found the daily to be liable for defamation following the publication of an article titled "Kayveas party financial figures don't add up."
The PPP president named the daily and former party member N Shanmuganathan as defendants in the RM10 million suit after the daily published the article that party funds were allegedly channeled to Kayveas' law firm.
Siti Khadijah had earlier entered judgment against Shanmuganathan and the trial saw Kayveas testifying without any witnesses from the defendants.
She said based on the law, she found the article in itself had in its natural and ordinary meaning resulted in the "sting of defamation" on Kayveas.
"Looking at the facts of the case, the plaintiff has managed to prove the words had the imputation to defame him," Siti Khadijah ruled, adding that it was clear from the article the defamatory words were related to Kayveas as his name was mentioned in the article five times.
"In this case, the daily failed to attend court proceedings to support its pleadings and hence there is no evidence before the court. The witness statement is merely a statement and cannot be accepted in court unless the defendants come and take their oath. Hence, the court finds that the defence failed to raise any doubt to the claim," she said.
Following this, Siti Khadijah said Kayveas managed to proof his case on a balance of probabilities.
Kayveas was represented by Muralee Menon and V Mugunthan while Nad Segaram and Soo Siew Mei appeared for the New Straits Times.
Judicial Commissioner Siti Khadijah S Hassan Badjenid also ordered the Umno-linked daily to pay RM5,000 in costs.
The order was made by the judicial commissioner after Siti Khadijah found the daily to be liable for defamation following the publication of an article titled "Kayveas party financial figures don't add up."
The PPP president named the daily and former party member N Shanmuganathan as defendants in the RM10 million suit after the daily published the article that party funds were allegedly channeled to Kayveas' law firm.
Siti Khadijah had earlier entered judgment against Shanmuganathan and the trial saw Kayveas testifying without any witnesses from the defendants.
She said based on the law, she found the article in itself had in its natural and ordinary meaning resulted in the "sting of defamation" on Kayveas.
"Looking at the facts of the case, the plaintiff has managed to prove the words had the imputation to defame him," Siti Khadijah ruled, adding that it was clear from the article the defamatory words were related to Kayveas as his name was mentioned in the article five times.
"In this case, the daily failed to attend court proceedings to support its pleadings and hence there is no evidence before the court. The witness statement is merely a statement and cannot be accepted in court unless the defendants come and take their oath. Hence, the court finds that the defence failed to raise any doubt to the claim," she said.
Following this, Siti Khadijah said Kayveas managed to proof his case on a balance of probabilities.
Kayveas was represented by Muralee Menon and V Mugunthan while Nad Segaram and Soo Siew Mei appeared for the New Straits Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.