Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Bhd (TV3) has been ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay RM200,000 for defaming senior lawyer and former Malaysian Bar president Manjeet Singh Dhillon.
The three-member bench, led by Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, also dismissed an appeal by former Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysiaand its journalist Raja Syahrir Abu Bakar to set aside a High Court order that they pay damages totalling RM350,000 to Manjeet.
In 2015, High Court judge Justice Nor Bee Arifin ordered Utusan to pay RM200,000 and Gobalakrishnan RM150,000 for defaming Manjeet. However, she found no case against TV3.
"The plaintiff (Manjeet) has proven its case against TV3, and the High Court judge which heard the case had made an error," Abang Iskandar said today.
The panel, also comprising Justices Badariah Sahamid and Mary Lim, also ordered TV3 to pay RM70,000 costs, with Utusan and Gobalakrishnan to pay RM20,000 each.
Manjeet had filed a RM2.5 million suit against all four defendants for defaming him of his conduct in the murder trial of cosmetics millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya when he was representing N Pathmanathan, who was sentenced to death for the murder.
News reports by Utusan and TV3 from 2011 had quoted Gobalakrishnan as saying that Manjeet was trying to show the weaknesses of national institutions.
Manjeet was represented by Americk Sidhu, while TH Liew appeared for TV3, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah for Utusan and Raja Syahrir, and Hasnal Rezua Merican for Gobalakrishnan. - Mkini
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