Former Penang deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy is seeking court action to strike out Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik's counterclaim over three alleged defamatory statements.
The former DAP member's counsel Shamsher Singh Thind confirmed that the striking-out application was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.
In January, Zakir (above, right) filed the counterclaim on the heels of Ramasamy’s own defamation suit against the preacher - filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Dec 3 last year.
The two personalities have clashed in court before, with the High Court in November last year ordering Ramasamy to pay RM1.52 million in damages and costs for purportedly defaming Zakir.
Ramasamy’s current defamation suit against Zakir is over an allegation that the former is the “biggest enemy of Islam”.
According to the affidavit in support of the bid to nullify Zakir's counterclaim, Ramasamy contended that the preacher is prevented by law from filing the counterclaim as it raised the same issues already dealt with by the court in the RM1.52 million ruling.
Ramasamy alleged that the preacher did not send any notice of demand against the politician before filing the counterclaim.
"Verily, I believe that the counterclaim was filed in haste as tit for tat because I filed the initial claim in this action against the defendant (Zakir)," Ramasamy said.
Zakir's counterclaim is over three statements allegedly issued by Ramasamy in 2019.
One statement is in relation to an online news article dated Aug 12 that year titled “Naik should stop his diabolical game of hatred against non-Muslims in M’sia”.
The other two statements were allegedly made on Ramasamy’s Facebook account on Aug 20 and 21 of the same year.
‘Malicious’
Zakir claimed that the online article alleged that he maliciously spread hatred against non-Muslims in Malaysia via his public speeches.
Zakir alleged the Facebook posts also claimed that he was a person who would not attend court proceedings as he was an allegedly wanted man in India, and that he purportedly made an insincere apology over his religious ceramah at Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
The preacher is seeking multiple reliefs against Ramasamy, among them unspecified general, compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages.
Zakir is also seeking a court order to compel the former DAP leader to publish an apology to be carried on the latter’s Facebook account as well as in eight news portals and newspapers.
He also seeks an injunction to compel Ramasamy to take down the three allegedly defamatory statements as well as to prevent the latter from further repeating the said statements. - Mkini
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