KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos has applied for a stay of the hearing of a defamation suit filed against him by Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Yeo Bee Yin which was scheduled to begin today and continue for the next two days.

Jamal's lawyers V Mugunthan and Mohd Nasir Yusof said they got instructions to file a stay of proceedings as their client wanted to know the outcome of the report he lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding his allegation on Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor (Yawas).

"We have sought a postponement of today's hearing as the stay is filed. We want to know if there is an outcome to the MACC investigation on the matter as it is related to our client's defence," Mugunthan told reporters after meeting High Court judge Justice Datuk Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad in her chambers.

Mugunthan said as a result, the court allows us to seek the information from the MACC and has fixed June 19 for case management. Yeo is represented by lawyer K Murali.

It was previously reported that Justice Nik Hasmat had fixed the trial to proceed from today until Thursday (May 9).

Yeo, who was Damansara Utama assemblyperson and is now Bakri Member of Parliament, had filed a defamation suit against the Umno division leader on June 14, 2017, where she sought damages from him for issuing a defamatory statement over the alleged abuse of the Yawas fund, which was published in several newspapers, news portals and in Jamal's Facebook account.

The minister claimed that the Umno Sungai Besar division leader's statement had given the impression that she abused public funds for her personal use and the statements painted her to be an unethical and unreliable politician.

She is seeking RM5 million general damages, along with aggravated, exemplary damages and an injunction against Jamal preventing him from repeating the allegations.