The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has set Aug 8 to hear Sapura Energy Bhd’s (SEB) appeal not to hand to Rafizi Ramli (above, right) documents regarding the company’s former CEO Shahril Shamsuddin.
The economy minister’s counsel Navpreet Singh confirmed the setting of the hearing date during case management of SEB’s appeal earlier today.
“The learned (High Court) registrar gave directions for filing of written submissions by July 11 and reply submission by July 25,” the lawyer said when contacted by the media today.
SEB is appealing against a decision by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur on April 14, which partly allowed Rafizi’s discovery application against the company.
Lower court judge Lailatul Zuraida Haron gave the ruling in Pandan MP Rafizi’s third-party application to strengthen his defence against Shahril’s defamation suit.
Shahril (above), who is currently Sapura Group’s president and CEO, is suing the PKR deputy president over the allegation that the plaintiff’s remuneration was too high in light of SEB’s financial difficulties.
Defamatory articles
The crux of Rafizi’s statement of defence is that he is ready to prove in court the alleged truth of the contents of the three online articles that form the basis for the defamation action.
The lawsuit is over three allegedly defamatory articles carried on Rafizi’s blog between March 31 and April 4 last year.
The three articles formed part of Rafizi’s then online debate with former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak over whether it was proper for public funds to be used to bail out SEB and over the root cause of the company’s financial distress.
Among the issues at the heart of the debate was whether Shahril’s remuneration as then SEB CEO was excessive.
On March 18, Bernama reported that SEB suffered a RM8.9 billion loss for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2022, and its subsidiaries were served with winding-up petitions.
Plaintiff Shahril is represented by counsel from Zul Rafique & Partners. - Mkini
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