Court dismisses Zahid’s interim injunction bid against Muhyiddin

 

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the issues in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s defamation suit against Muhyiddin Yassin are better to be dealt with during a full hearing of the civil action.

Judge Rohana Ali Yusoff said this in dismissing the former deputy prime minister’s interim injunction application against the former prime minister earlier today.

Previously, it was reported that the court had fixed today to hear Zahid’s temporary restraining order bid against Muhyiddin as part of the main civil action.

An interim injunction is a temporary order of the court directing a party to do any act or abstain from those acts, pending disposal of the main civil action.

The defamation suit was filed over an allegation that Zahid had sought help to resolve or postpone his criminal case trial.

When contacted, Zahid’s counsel Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman confirmed the outcome of the proceedings.

“After hearing submissions from both counsels, the court dismissed the application saying the issues raised by parties are matters better to be disposed of and decided at a trial.

“Issues raised by parties are as follows - whether the defendant’s statements are defamatory or not; whether there is truth in defendant’s defence of justification in supporting his (purported) defamatory statements; whether the defendant’s statements are fair comment; and whether the defendant can rely on the defence of qualified privilege.

“The court awarded costs of RM5,000 for the application. The case is now to proceed for preparation for trial,” the lawyer said.

Shahrul added that the court fixed further case management via online on Oct 3 for both parties to prepare for trial.

Seeking relief

Through the civil action filed on April 4, the Bagan Datuk MP seeks a court order to withdraw the alleged defamatory statements.

He also seeks an interim injunction for Muhyiddin to delete, edit and stop the publication of part of the video footage which contained the alleged defamatory statement in news portals and social media, including on Perikatan Nasional’s Facebook, Astro Awani’s YouTube channel and KiniTV.

According to the statement of claim, Zahid, 69, alleged that during the 15th Johor state election campaign trail in Mersing, at the compound of the Learning Centre Sentuhan Kasih Felda Tenggaroh 3, on Feb 16, Muhyiddin had made the statement with ill intention and malice against him and on the same day the video footage of the statement was published on Astro Awani’s YouTube channel, managed by Astro Awani.

Zahid alleged that Muhyiddin’s statement implied among other things that he had used a shortcut to settle and postpone his ongoing court cases, that he had asked for the defendant’s help to intervene in the court cases and the judicial system, and to order the dissolution of the Johor state assembly.

Zahid claimed that the allegations were false and targeted at tarnishing his good name and reputation.

He seeks general, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as an order for Muhyiddin to publish a public apology in newspapers, and other reliefs and costs deemed fit by the court. - Mkini