Vincent Tan seeks restraining order against Sanusi

 

Tycoon Vincent Tan has turned to the civil court to obtain a restraining order against caretaker Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

Through the defamation suit filed at the Shah Alam High Court on Tuesday this week, the Berjaya Group founder also seeks an order to compel the PAS leader to pay up unspecified general, aggravated, and exemplary damages.

Previously, Tan’s lawyers issued a letter of demand seeking the Perikatan Nasional leader’s apology as well as RM200 million compensation over the latter’s claim of impropriety between the tycoon and Selangor caretaker menteri besar Amirudin Shari in relation to the Klang River cleaning project.

The writ of summons was over Sanusi’s speech during the Kedah state election campaign at Dataran Darulaman, Jitra, on Aug 2, which saw the attendance of hundreds of people.

According to the statement of claim, Tan and Berjaya Land Berhad - the first and second plaintiffs respectively - rubbished the allegations, contending that Sanusi refused to abide by their legal letter through his lawyers’ letter in response, dated Aug 8.

The plaintiffs claimed that not only the allegations were baseless and untrue, but also were uttered and disseminated in bad faith and for “pure and pedantic political expediency and inflammatory rhetoric of the defendant”.

‘Cheap publicity for electioneering gains’

Tan and the company claimed that Sanusi did not take reasonable steps to verify the truthfulness of the claims before uttering them during the speech, further claiming that the defendant wanted to gain cheap publicity and sensation for personal or electioneering gains.

The plaintiffs claimed that Sanusi’s statement painted them as corrupt, were cronies of Amirudin, had caused the Selangor state government to incur a loss of RM180 million from purported land given for “free”, and defrauded the citizens of Selangor, among others.

Caretaker Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor

“The severity of the defamation and the debilitating impact against the plaintiffs have been unprecedented and particularly intense, especially in the very last hour of the political campaigning with the public’s attention, and continues to impact the plaintiffs in all manners to date.

“The plaintiffs have and have had an unblemished reputation as businessperson and company and hold highly respectable positions in society both locally and internationally,” Tan and Berjaya Land contended.

The plaintiffs pointed out that Tan has a large extended family and that Sanusi’s claims have pervaded and permeated into his family circle, further aggravating his and his family’s mental trauma.

The duo claimed that the allegations have spread to the world stage, whereby international business organisations or corporations may harbour adverse impressions against them.

Besides the various forms of damages, Tan and Berjaya Land seek an injunction to restrain Sanusi from further repeating the alleged defamatory statement.

The plaintiffs also seek 5 percent interest on any judgment sum awarded, costs, and any other relief deemed fit by the court.

Malaysiakini is attempting to reach out to Sanusi’s lawyers over the matter. - Mkini