Vincent Tan obtains restraining order against Sanusi

The Shah Alam High Court has granted business magnate Vincent Tan an inter parte injunction against Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor pending the disposal of the former’s defamation suit.

Lawyers for both parties confirmed this with Malaysiakini.

“After hearing both parties, the court allowed enclosure for inter parte interlocutory injunction,” said Tan’s counsel Chuar Kia Lin.

Interlocutory injunctions aim to preserve the status quo in a lawsuit by ordering a party to do something or stop doing something pending the end of the matter.

Sanusi’s lawyer Mohd Faizi Che Abu said no trial date has been set for the defamation suit.

The Berjaya Group founder is suing the PAS leader over the latter’s allegation of impropriety between Tan (above, left) and Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari over the Klang River cleaning project.

In August, Tan and co-plaintiff Berjaya Land Berhad turned to the civil court to compel Sanusi to pay unspecified general, aggravated, and exemplary damages.

The writ of summons was over Sanusi’s speech during the Kedah state election campaign at Dataran Darulaman, Jitra, on Aug 2, which saw the attendance of hundreds of people.

Besides rubbishing the allegation as untrue and baseless, the plaintiffs claimed that Sanusi uttered the words in bad faith and for “pure and pedantic political expediency and inflammatory rhetoric of the defendant”.

The plaintiffs claimed that Sanusi’s statement painted them as corrupt, were cronies of Amirudin, had caused the Selangor government to incur a loss of RM180 million from purported land given for “free”, and defrauded the people of Selangor, among others.

Selangor MB Amirudin Shari

Speech on ‘welfare’

Later via his statement of defence filed on Sept 29, Sanusi denied that his speech labeled Tan and the tycoon’s company as corrupt.

The PAS election director contended his campaign speech emphasised the welfare of the people rather than corporations or the wealthy.

The defendant explained that the reference to “taikun-taikun besar” (big tycoons) such as Tan was merely stating that as Kedah menteri besar he “would prioritise the welfare of people from the lower class (nasib rakyat golongan bawahan) and not merely that of the corporates or rich”.

However in his reply filed at the civil court, Tan reiterated that the use of the word “taikun” in the context of Sanusi’s speech still carried defamatory connotations against the businessperson.

Amirudin also has a pending defamation suit against Sanusi over a similar allegation. - Mkini