The Kuala Lumpur High Court is set to hear Azmin Ali’s side of the story over an egg importer’s application for leave to commence contempt proceedings against the former international trade and industry minister.
This followed on the heels of proceedings before judicial commissioner Leong Wai Hong today for the initially ex parte (only one party in dispute is present) hearing of J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd’s application for leave to proceed with committal action.
The plaintiff wanted to cite Azmin (above) for contempt of court in relation to the defendant’s filing of a witness statement in the firm’s defamation suit against him.
Under the law, a guilty finding against Azmin in the contempt proceedings could lead to a fine or jail time.
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.
The firm’s counsel Bhavanash Sharma confirmed the outcome of the online proceedings.
“The judicial commissioner, in exercising his discretion, has converted this leave application to inter partes (both parties present) hearing for leave. The next e-review (online case management) is on June 27.
“We need to serve leave papers to the other side (Azmin’s legal team) within a week,” the lawyer told Malaysiakini.
J&E Advance Tech is also represented by counsel Ramkarpal Singh.
Court to hear both sides
With today’s outcome, the civil court would later set a hearing date to hear oral submissions from the legal teams for both the plaintiff and defendant over whether leave should be granted for the firm to proceed with the committal application.
A plaintiff needs the civil court’s leave before it is allowed to commence a contempt application.
According to a copy of a supporting affidavit, J&E Advance Tech general manager Rajesh Jaikishan claimed that Azmin had engaged in abuse of the court process and interfered with the due administration of justice.
Rajesh alleged that this happened when Azmin filed his witness statement on May 16 (a day before the full court hearing on May 17), 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 the 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.
J&E Advance Tech 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.
Early last year, J&E Advance Tech filed the 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, 2023.
On March 8 last year during his Dewan Rakyat winding-up speech on the 2023 Supply Bill, Mohamad 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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