PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang will file a court application to set aside a Sessions Court judgment that ordered him to pay damages to a Sabah lawyer who had taken him to court over purported negative remarks the PAS leader made on Christianity.

Lawyer Hamid Ismail, who is acting for Hadi, said that his client did not receive the writ of summons and did not know he had to appear in court.

Due to Hadi’s failure to appear in court, the judgment was made in default.

“I’ll be filling an application to set aside the default judgment within the 30-day time limit,” Hamid is quoted as saying today by the Malay Mail Online.

“If he had received the summons, he must file the memorandum of appearance but since he didn’t receive it, there was nothing to file."

The Sessions Court on Aug 12 ordered the Marang MP to pay lawyer Marcel Jude Joseph, 54, damages for interference with the constitutional right of the plaintiff to freedom of religion under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

Marcel had applied for a judgment as Hadi did not turn up in court, and the court then issued a certificate of non-appearance by the defendant.

Hadi was purportedly served with the summons by Marcel’s lawyer on July 19.

Marcel, who is a member of the Sabah Bar and a member of the Sabah Catholic Lawyers Apostolate, filed the suit against Hadi on his statement, which was alleged to be blasphemous and an unlawful interference with the plaintiff's constitutional right to freedom of worship.

This was based on a re-published article by online portal Free Malaysia Today, titled “Christianity rejected by the educated, says Hadi”, quoting the PAS leader from an article in the Islamic party organ Harakah.

Marcel claimed that the defendant made defamatory statements in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth paragraphs of the said article.

The aforementioned statements were calculated to make negative and false inferences of the plaintiff and his faith and religious belief, Marcel said in his suit.