Friday 29 Mar 2024
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PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal dismissed yesterday an appeal by the Kelantan People’s Action Council president Azmi Che Ali against a judgment that he defamed Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd three years ago.

A three-man bench chaired by Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim said there was no reason to disturb the findings of the High Court which delivered a judgment for the plaintiif.

Air Kelantan, represented by Hisham Fauzi, was also awarded RM10,000 in costs.

Last year, judge Datuk Azman Abdullah ordered Azmi, who is the brother of Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, to pay RM50,000 in damages and publish a public apology in The Star newspaper.

He was also ordered to pay RM15,000 in costs.

Air Kelantan, a state-owned company, is entrusted with managing water treatment and supply in the state.

The company filed suit against Azmi who said that the state government had misappropriated a RM600 million loan given by the federal government to upgrade water treatment and supply.

Azmi, in an article published by the newspaper, had also demanded the resignation of former menteri besar, the late Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, over alleged corruption in the state-owned water supply agency.

Also included in the suit was the newspaper which published a front page article titled Murky waters: Over a million Kelantanese drink water that looks like this on April 26, 2012.

The report was accompanied by a picture of a glass of murky water.

The newspaper and the plaintiff, however, settled the matter without having to go through a trial.

Azman in his judgment also said he could not accept the defence of justification, qualified privilege and fair comment advanced by Azmi. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 10, 2015.

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