Court rejects Bestinet’s bid to serve suit on Bloomberg via courier

 The company is ordered to pay RM10,000 in costs after the High Court says that respect for another country’s sovereignty must still be observed.

Bloomberg LP’s office in New York. Bestinet Sdn Bhd had tried to serve its papers on Bloomberg in Washington and New York by courier. (Bloomberg pic)

KUALA LUMPUR:

Bestinet Sdn Bhd has been ordered to pay RM10,000 in costs after the High Court threw out its attempt to serve legal papers on Bloomberg LP in the US by courier.

The court allowed Bloomberg LP’s application to set aside the service. Bestinet had in March this year sent its writ and statement of claim to Bloomberg’s offices in New York and Washington DC via courier.

The court said serving legal papers outside Malaysia involves the sovereignty of another country, as it seeks to bring a foreign party under Malaysian jurisdiction.

It said that although courier, email and the internet have made service easier, respect for another country’s sovereignty must still be observed.

Because Malaysia is not part of the Hague Convention, which sets standard rules for serving papers between countries, such service must strictly follow Order 11 of the Rules of Court 2012 and the laws of the receiving country.

The court found Bestinet had breached both.

It also rejected Bestinet’s argument that the issue no longer mattered because Bloomberg LP had already entered appearance in court, saying that appearing to challenge bad service does not make the service valid.

In April, Bloomberg (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd had applied to strike out a libel suit filed by Bestinet and its founder Aminul Islam Abdul Nor over an article linking them to a migrant worker recruitment syndicate.

In June, the High Court dismissed Bloomberg’s application to strike out the libel suit, allowing Bestinet’s legal action to proceed. - FMT