This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 6, 2019

PUTRAJAYA: Two media groups have agreed to honour a 2015 High Court decision ordering them to pay Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng damages totalling RM400,000 for labelling him a “Singapore agent”.

Guan Eng’s lawyer, Americk Sidhu, told the Federal Court that The New Straits Times Press (M) Sdn Bhd (NSTP) and Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd had agreed to abide by the decision that required them to pay Guan Eng RM200,000 each in damages. A three-man bench, comprising Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop and Federal Court Judges Datuk Seri Balia Yusof Wahi and Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, allowed Guan Eng’s application to withdraw his motion for leave to appeal.

Three other respondents in this matter — Perkasa and its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and information chief Ruslan Kassim — are also considering a settlement and have asked for a month to decide, Americk said.

The Federal Court then fixed April 3 for case management. Speaking to reporters outside court, Americk said NSTP and Utusan Melayu had decided not to pursue the matter in light of the Federal Court’s ruling on an action brought by Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen against the state government last year, which gave Guan Eng the legitimacy to sue in both his official and personal capacity.

The apex court had ruled that federal and state governments were allowed to sue individuals, including the media, for defamation, effectively rejecting the UK common law Derbyshire principle which disallows public authorities to bring an action against a person for lowering their reputation.

Guan Eng filed his defamation suit in May 2012, claiming that Ruslan had published a statement on Perkasa’s website in October 2011, asking businessman Datuk Mohamad Azman Yahya to explain Guan Eng’s meeting with businessman Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan and a People’s Action Party senior leader in Singapore in August 2011.