Two COA judges recuse themselves from NFC-Rafizi case

Two of three judges at the Court of Appeal today recused themselves from hearing the appeal by National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd and its chairperson Mohd Salleh Ismail against Mkini Sdn Bhd and Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli's appeal against NFC in a defamation suit filed by the company.

Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who led the panel, recused himself, along with Justice Mary Lim, who was the third judge.

"In the interest of justice, both of us decided to recuse ourselves from hearing the appeal," Justice Abang Iskandar said.

After case management was held among lawyers from all sides, the Court of Appeal fixed March 23 next year to hear both appeals.

Their recusal came about after Justice Abang Iskandar highlighted to parties, including senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (photo) for Salleh and NFC, that he and Justice Lim had dismissed NFC and Salleh’s appeal in a defamation suit against Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.

They recognised that although Rafizi’s case differed slightly from Nurul Izzah’s, it involved matters from the same press conference.

Either Justice Abang Iskandar or Justice Lim will write the grounds of the decision in the NFC and Salleh case against Nurul Izzah, which NFC and Salleh are appealing in the Federal Court.

Their leave to appeal the matter in the apex court is scheduled to be heard next month.

Shafee admitted before the bench that the presence of Justice Abang Iskandar and Justice Lim, who also sat in the Nurul Izzah case, had slipped his mind and that of his assistants.

Lawyers do not object to the judges

The senior lawyer said he had no objection to them to be on the bench.

Lawyers Ranjit Singh and Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, who appeared for Rafizi, also had no objections to the two judges sitting on the case.

Razlan Hadri, who had appeared for Nurul Izzah in her case against NFC and Salleh, told the bench that Nurul Izzah’s case is not the same as Rafizi’s.

Earlier, before proceedings began, Shafee asked for a short adjournment, saying that his mother-in-law passed away last week and with his in-laws having converged at his house, he did not have time to read the submissions provided.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 31 ruled that Rafizi defamed NFC and Salleh, and he was ordered to pay RM50,000 and RM150,000 respectively, and an additional RM100,000 as costs.

However, Justice Azizul Azmi Adnan dismissed NFC and Salleh's claim against Malaysiakini, ruling that the news portal was covered by the defence of reportage.

dismissed

Reportage refers to a neutral reporting of the fact that statements have been made by and which are attributed to another person, and not the reporting of statements as a representation of the facts.

Salleh and NFC had sued Rafizi and Malaysiakini, over the PKR MP's statement on March 7, 2012, alleging that public funds, meant for a National Feedlot Centre project in Gemas, were used as leverage to purchase eight properties at KL Eco World.

Following the verdict last year, NFC and Salleh are appealing the High Court's decision against Malaysiakini and Rafizi is appealing on the order to pay damages to Salleh and NFC.- Mkini