The sessions court allowed P Ramasamy's application for Dr Prashant Subramaniam to be named as a defendant in a suit against senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran.
The suit was brought by Ramasamy against a senator, Dr RA Lingeshwaran, over a media statement “Unite, not divide! Senior Hindu leaders told” which he said was widely shared online in late December 2023.
He applied to have Dr Prashant added to the suit over a statement made by the doctor. Ramasamy said he found out about the statement when three journalists asked for his comments. He said the statement was from Prashant.
Ramasamy first tried to get the court to order Prashant to hand over screenshots of his WhatsApp messages with journalists, but that application was rejected in February. He filed a fresh request to name Prashant as a co-defendant in the suit.
Prashant’s lawyers argued that he had no direct role in the dispute and should not be included, but the court disagreed today.
Judge Zulhazmi Abdullah said the case against Prashant was based on the same type of defamation claim and should be heard together.
“Although Dr Prashant argued that he has no connection with the defendant since the cause of action against him is also based on the same kind of claim, the wise move is to allow the application at this stage,” Zulhazmi said.
The judge said even if Prashant was just a government doctor with no direct link to the dispute, passing the statement to a journalist, if proven, could still amount to publication under defamation law.
The court allowed the writ and statement of claim to be updated, adding Prashant as the first defendant.
Kok Yuen Lin represented Lingeshwaran while Sumarni Saad @ Othman represented Prashant.
Ramasamy is suing Lingeshwaran for accusing him of splitting the Hindu community and failing to uplift Indians during his time as Penang deputy chief minister and chairman of the Penang Hindu Endowments Board.
Ramasamy claims the statement was false and politically motivated. He is seeking damages, a public apology, and an injunction.
In his defence, Lingeshwaran admitted issuing the statement but said it was never published by the media. Lingeshwaran had blamed Ramasamy for causing division by introducing a second Thaipusam chariot in 2017, which led to friction between followers of the Silver and Golden Chariots.
He said the statement was made in response to Ramasamy’s public criticism over the board’s “united Thaipusam” plan. - FMT
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