Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew and another person have been barred from introducing fresh evidence in the hearing of their appeal against a High Court decision ordering them to pay RM558 million in damages.

The ruling, made by a five-member Federal Court bench in Kota Kinabalu today, said that the appellants failed to meet the legal requirement to adduce fresh evidence, according to Sabah-based Daily Express.

Appellants Liew and Samsuri Baharuddin - both lawyers - were ordered to pay RM30,000 in cost.

In 2014, Liew, her former clerk Siti Rahfizah Mihaldin and Samsuri were ordered to pay RM557,641,716.29 in damages by the Tawau High Court.

This is believed to be the largest award ever granted by the courts.

The court had ruled that the trio had unlawfully induced 819 landowners involved in the Bagahak Smallholders Scheme to breach their joint-venture agreement with plaintiff Borneo Samudera Sdn Bhd, a company owned by the Sabah government.

High Court judge Chew Soo Ho ruled that Liew had in 2006 and 2007 prepared sales and purchase agreements for the 819 smallholders to sell the land to Siti Rahfizah.

Liew is the current leader of Sabah PKR. She is also the Tawau MP and Api-Api assemblyperson.