KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Two defamation suits in which former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have sued each other will now be heard by Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong at the High Court here.

In November of 2023, judge Rozana Ali Yusoff, who was supposed to hear both matters, was transferred to the Penang High Court, and Gan was subsequently appointed to replace her.

Mahathir’s lawyer Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi said that trial dates were set on Monday (Jan 8), during case management before the new judicial commissioner.

In Mahathir’s defamation suit against Zahid, the judicial commisioner had maintained the previously set dates of Feb 13-16, and in Zahid’s suit against Mahathir, Gan maintained the previously set dates of Oct 14-17.

Mahathir had filed the suit against Zahid in July 2022, over Zahid’s comments made during an Umno divisional meeting in July 2017, and again in July 2022. The comments had also been reproduced by several news outlets.

The two time ex-prime minister claimed that Zahid’s statement suggested that Mahathir was not born a Malay or Muslim, given his original name of “Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty”.

Mahathir said the statements made it appear that he claimed to be Malay when he became prime minister to gain political and personal advantage, and that he had a skewed view of the Indian community.

In his statement of defence filed through Messrs Shahrul Hamidi & Haziq, Zahid, who is also Umno president, denied that his statements were malicious, adding that they had not affected Mahathir’s reputation.

As for Zahid’s suit against Mahathir, Zahid filed the suit in April 2022 over the then-Parti Pejuang Tanah Air chairman (Mahathir)’s claim during the Johor state election in February 2022, that Zahid met him in 2018 and 2019 to discuss Zahid’s criminal case. Zahid has denied the claim.

Mahathir had said in his statement of defence that the Umno president had met him on June 6 and Sept 13, 2018 at the Perdana Leadership Foundation, and then on Feb 23 and Feb 24, 2020 at Mahathir’s residence at the Mines Resort, and again on Feb 25, 2020 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Zahid, in reply to Mahathir’s defence, denied that he met the veteran politician to discuss his criminal case in June 2018, as he had not been charged or investigated yet. Zahid added that the meetings in June 2018 and after were related to Umno, the party that Mahathir served as president from 1982 to 2004.

Zahid questioned how he could have discussed his court case in front of other senior Umno leaders who accompanied him, when he had yet to be investigated or charged at the time.