An egg importer has filed an application for civil court leave to commence contempt proceedings against former international trade and industry minister Azmin Ali.
J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd filed the committal application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court late last month, in relation to Azmin’s filing of a witness statement.
The Hulu Kelang assemblyperson’s witness statement was for last month’s court hearing of the company’s defamation suit against him over the issue of egg import from India.
Under Malaysian law for civil court cases, a guilty finding in committal proceedings can lead to a fine or jail time.
According to a copy of a supporting affidavit sighted by Malaysiakini, J&E Advance Tech general manager Rajesh Jaikishan claimed that Azmin (above) had engaged in abuse of the court process and interfered with the due administration of justice.
Rajesh alleged that this took place when Azmin filed the his witness statement on May 16 (a day before the full court hearing on May 17 before judicial commissioner Leong Wai Hong), when the defendant had already filed a previous witness statement on Nov 15 last year.
The trial took place over two days, on May 13 and May 17.
J&E Advance Tech claimed that this amounted to the defendant having taken a new stance in the witness statement which purportedly contradicted the earlier witness statement.
Rajesh claimed that the court on Nov 16 last year directed both plaintiff and defendant to file their pretrial documents and witness statements by Dec 30 last year.
The plaintiff claimed that on the second day of the court trial on May 17 this year, Azmin had filed an additional bundle of documents that included the new witness statement, after the company had closed its case.
“This has caused the plaintiff’s case (against Azmin) to be very seriously prejudiced,” Rajesh claimed in the affidavit dated May 23, which was filed by the plaintiff’s counsel Bhavanash Sharma.
J&E Advance Tech also alleged that Azmin failed or neglected to provide an explanation for the late filing on the second day of trial.
The plaintiff seeks for the court to take into account Azmin’s earlier witness statement to allow it to perform a complete evaluation of the defendant’s credibility as a witness.
When contacted by Malaysiakini today, Azmin’s counsel Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid said they have not been served copies of the committal application as the leave stage of contempt proceedings is ex parte (only one party is present during the proceedings).
If the civil court grants leave to J&E Advance Tech to commence committal proceedings, then copies of the application would be served on Azmin, and the court would fix a separate date for inter-partes (both parties present) hearing of the merits of the application.
“It is an ex parte application and still at the leave stage.
“We are not served with the documents, hence technically we do not know of the contents herein,” Nizamuddin explained.
Early last year, J&E Advance Tech filed a defamation suit over Azmin’s speech during a ceramah on March 11 last year.
In his statement of defence, Azmin denied trying to defame the egg-importing firm, stating that he was merely questioning the Anwar Ibrahim administration’s promise for an open tender for all government procurement.
The defendant noted that his speech never mentioned the company’s name and was referring directly to the government and businessperson Deepak Jaikishan.
Direct negotiation claim
In the company’s reply filed on Aug 11 last year, the plaintiff countered that Azmin’s statement was defamatory at the beginning of his speech and in the later portion as it made an allegation that certain quarters were involved in malpractice, which in the minds of any reasonable listener would indirectly refer to the company.
J&E Advance Tech said despite Azmin’s speech not naming it, the company pointed out that it is general knowledge that the plaintiff is the sole importer of eggs from India, courtesy of Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu mentioning its name in Parliament on March 8 last year.
On March 8 last year during his Dewan Rakyat winding-up speech on the 2023 Supply Bill, Mat Sabu said J&E Advance Tech was given a permit to import eggs from India for the short term, to deal with the product shortage in Malaysia at the time.
The minister said the award given to the company was not through an open tender as the long-standing issue of egg shortage required immediate action by the administration.
Through the civil action, the plaintiff is seeking unspecified general, compensatory, aggravated, and exemplary damages.
The firm seeks an injunction to prevent Azmin from further defaming it, as well as five percent interest on any judgment sum awarded, costs, and any other relief deemed fit by the court.
The High Court has set July 25 for oral submissions of the suit. A decision date over the civil action has yet to be fixed. - Mkini
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