Court throws out MP’s suit against Khalid, KiniTV and NST

 

Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman failed in his defamation suit against Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad, video portal KiniTV and English daily New Straits Times (NST).

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon dismissed his lawsuit linked to a series of press conferences regarding a 2016 incident where Tajuddin allegedly referred to Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in Parliament as the only woman with “Kok”, and Khalid purportedly responding by calling him “sial”.

On Feb 22, 2017, then deputy agriculture and agro-based minister Tajuddin (above) filed the suit against Khalid over the latter’s press conference outside the Dewan Rakyat shortly after the incident.

The former deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister was also suing KiniTV Sdn Bhd and The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad over their coverage of Khalid’s press conference.

Judicial commissioner Latifah Mohd Tahar conveyed the court’s dismissal of the suit via email to parties this afternoon.

This was confirmed by lawyer Sankara Nair, who represented Khalid.

The plaintiff's claim against the defendants for defamation was dismissed with no cost.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad

“It is the honourable High Court judge's finding that the statements made by the defendants were not defamatory,” Sankara said.

According to a copy of the court’s judgment made available to the media this afternoon, Latifah said that the matter centred on Tajuddin having uttered a statement in his speech in the Dewan Rakyat, that, among others, were “sexist” and “unparliamentary” against Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

She said the court took judicial notice that the English word “cock” refers to a male sex organ, and this word was targeted towards the opposition lawmaker.

‘No need for the plaintiff to utter the vulgar word’

“The court is of the view that there was no need for the plaintiff to utter the vulgar word towards the Seputeh MP, when at that time there was no provocation and that it got nothing to do with the question being debated (in Parliament) at the time,” Latifah said.

Then, in 2016, Tajuddin was the deputy agriculture and agro-industries minister.

“The plaintiff’s reasoning that the word ‘cock’ merely referred to YB Teresa Kok Suh Sim is baseless when taking into account the full context of the statement made.

“According to the first defendant’s (Khalid’s) witnesses, it is a normal practice that. during parliamentary proceedings, parliamentarians are referred to by their respective constituencies and not by their personal names.

“The plaintiff’s act of refusal to retract the sexist statement, as well as teasing and mocking (memperli dan mengejek) opposition parliamentarians, have triggered provocation on the part of the first defendant (Khalid) when the (alleged) defamatory words were uttered,” Latifah said.

Judicial commissioner Latifah Mohd Tahar

The judicial commissioner said that the court does not consider the word “sial” uttered by Khalid as defamatory against Tajuddin in light of the full context of the situation at the time.

“The court is of the opinion that the word ‘sial’ used by the first defendant was the result of the provocation by the plaintiff himself.

“According to Kamus Dewan, ‘sial’ means ‘tidak beruntung, tidak bernasib baik, selalu susah, celaka dan malang’ (unprofitable, unlucky, always in difficulty, wretched and unfortunate).

“But in the context of the first defendant, there is justification in taking into account the tense atmosphere when the plaintiff used the sexist word against the Seputeh MP,” Latifah said.

“The statement made by the plaintiff as Pasir Salak MP and (then) deputy agriculture and agro-based industries minister is unwarranted and smeared the institution of Parliament, which is among the highest institutions in the country.

“The court is of the view that freedom of speech and protection of reputation, especially during respected parliamentary proceedings, need to be given attention, despite the immunity provided,” she said in reference to parliamentary immunity for words uttered during Dewan Rakyat sessions.

In dismissing Tajuddin’s defamation suit against all three defendants, the judicial commissioner made no order to costs in light of the public interest aspect of the case.

Lawyers K Shanmuga and Rueben Mathiavaranam represented KiniTV and NST respectively. - Mkini