By Hafiz Yatim
Malayaiakini
Mac 27, 2013
Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua won his appeal today against a High Court order to him to pay RM200,000 to Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) for defamation.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimously decision today reversed the order of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that last year found Pua, who is also DAP national publicity secretary, liable for defamation and ordered him to pay the sum to Syabas.
Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who represented Pua, informed Malaysiakini of the Court of Appeal decision today.
The three-member panel headed by Zaharah Ibrahim, who sat with Ananthan Kasinather and Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, also ordered Syabas to pay Pua (left) RM50,000 as costs.
The panel in its oral judgment did not give grounds for the decision.
Last June, KL High Court judge Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah, in her decision in Syabas’ favour, dismissed Pua’s counter-claim and his defence of qualified privilege and fair comment in making the statement.
With the decision, Gobind said, Syabas has to refund the RM200,000 which has been paid.
‘The KL High Court had erred’
Gobind submitted today that the KL High Court had erred when it found Pua as failing to justify the statements made against Syabas.
He said evidence showed Syabas was facing financial difficulties, and therefore, Pua was justified in saying that if Syabas had insufficient funds, then they should return the concession to Selangor.
Gobind (right) also submitted that Syabas – being an entity which provides public services – could not sue anyone for defamation.
Meanwhile, Syabas counsel Gopal Sreenevasan told the appellate court that Justice Amelia had been right in rejecting the defence of justifications raised by Pua.
He submitted that the High Court judge was also correct in holding the lawmaker responsible for showing that Syabas was in financial difficulty, owing to incompetence on its part, in managing its affairs.
Gopal also told the court that Syabas, being a commercial entity, has a right to sue an individual for defamation because it had the right to safeguard its reputation.
It was reported that a donation drive was launched by the public to collect the RM200,000 amount to be paid to Syabas, and that the collection had exceeded its target.
Last month, the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government announced that a RM9.65 billion bid to take over four water concessionaires, which includes Syabas.