The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed Nov 18 to hear former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's application to remove portions of DAP senior leader Lim Kit Siang's defence against a RM10 million defamation suit filed by the former.
When contacted, Apandi's lawyer M Visvanathan said High Court judge Azimah Omar made the decision after an e-review was carried out before senior assistant registrar Idamasliza Maarof.
Asked which portions Apandi wanted to be removed, Visvanathan said it involved "evidence" provided in Lim's defence which should not be submitted at this juncture.
"The judge has fixed Nov 18 for hearing," Visvanathan added. Lim is being represented by Sangeet Kaur. She was unavailable for comment at press time.
Apandi, a former Federal Court judge before being appointed attorney-general, filed the suit against Lim over what he claimed was a defamatory article published in Malaysiakini.
Apandi, 69, is seeking RM10 million in general, aggravated and exemplary damages against Lim, who is DAP's Iskandar Puteri's MP.
Apandi is also seeking an injunction to prevent Lim from further publishing the article which he claims has a negative effect on him.
The article in question, Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia's on the road to integrity, which was published on May 6.
Apandi took offence with the report as he claimed it had "deliberately or indirectly implied that he was involved in criminal activities, is someone who is unethical, immoral, incompetent and lacked responsibility, knowledge, expertise and other professional ethics to hold the post of attorney-general at the material time."
Apandi also claims that Lim implied that he had "abused or neglected his duties and responsibilities as the attorney-general and practised double standards in the execution of his duties and responsibilities especially as attorney-general at the material time and as an individual in general."
Apandi said he regarded the alleged defamatory words contained in the article as "incorrect, a lie, and also a serious libel against him".
In welcoming the suit, Lim stated that it would be an opportunity for the former attorney-general to explain his alleged "inactivity" when the 1MDB scandal unfolded.
Apandi, who became the attorney-general in 2015, had cleared former premier Najib Abdul Razak in 2017 over any impropriety related to state fund 1MDB. - Mkini
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