The Kuala Lumpur High Court has dismissed a RM200 million defamatory suit brought by the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) against former deputy minister Dr Tan Kee Kwong, now of PKR.

Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof said that, while she agrees the article is defamatory, Felda had failed to prove that Tan made the remarks.

Felda had failed to call the reporter who had written the article concerned, she noted.

azlan “It is the burden of the plaintiff (Felda) to prove that the defendant published or caused to be published the alleged defamatory words. It is my finding that the plaintiff has not proven that the defendant had uttered those defamatory words to ( Suara Keadilan reporter) Faizal Zakaria. Faizal was not called to testify.”

Justice Zabariah said it was never an agreed fact that Tan uttered those words to the reporter.

“What was agreed was that the defendant did give an interview to Faizal. It is not disputed that there was a publication of the article subsequent to the interview but it was not proven that what was published in the article were the words of the defendant.”

“The other witnesses of the plaintiffs were not at the interview between the defendant and Faizal and hence were not in a position to confirm whether the alleged defamatory words were at all uttered. The plaintiffs failed to prove the defendant did in fact uttered those words and was responsible for the publication of the defamatory words in the newspaper report.”

"Following this, the case is dismissed with costs," she said.

Justice Zabariah awarded costs of RM70,000 to Tan, after his lawyers Razlan Hadri Zulkifli and Ho Kok Yew asked for RM100,000.

Tears of joy

Tan is being sued for RM200 million by Felda and its subsidiary, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd, for defamation.

NONE A teary-eyed Tan (in white shirt) , who now heads the PKR disciplinary board, thanked the judge for having delivered a “sound judgment”, and said he would not stop fighting for justice and truth.

Tan added that people in the rural areas are becoming aware of their rights and politicians and the government, including a public body, should stop cheating the people.

In an immediate reaction, Johor PKR chief and party vice-president Chua Jui Meng said the suit was clearly intended to make Tan bankrupt and derail plans for him to contest in the coming general election.

"People have been praying hard for the dismissal. It is good that the court has found this and has  not been pressured or (subjected to) interference by certain parties. This case shows there are good judges left," he said.

Another PKR vice-president, N Surendran, also welcomed the decision, saying it was a good decision.

“Tan is vindicated but it would not stop him from speaking out in public in support of the rights and justice for poor people including the Felda settlers.

“This case should not have been brought to court as firstly, Felda being a public body cannot file a suit against a person. But nevertheless it was a good decision,” he said.

On July 11, Justice Zabariah dismissed a novel preliminary objection by Tan’s lawyers who argued that as Felda is a public body, it cannot sue an individual for defamation on grounds of freedom of speech.

She ruled that Felda is not a public authority.

“Felda has locus standi (legal standing) to file the suit or be sued. Hence the preliminary objection is dismissed,” Justice Zabariah had ruled and ordered Tan to pay costs of RM30,000.

Felda’s lawyers Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin and Mahinder Singh Dulku said they would seek instructions on whether to file an appeal.