KUALA LUMPUR (March 14): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's application to rope in the police and the government as third parties in a US$14.57 million (RM68.3 million) lawsuit over 40-odd 'missing' pieces of jewellery has been set for hearing on May 29.
Rosmah's counsel Rajivan Nambiar confirmed the matter with The Edge on Thursday, adding that the matter will be heard before High Court judge Ong Chee Kwan.
This is part of Lebanese jeweller Global Royalty Trading SAL's lawsuit against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's wife for breach of contract over 43 pieces of jewellery which are allegedly missing following a raid by the authorities in 2018.
As part of her defence, Rosmah had contended that if the 43 pieces of jewellery were lost, the police or the Malaysian government should be made responsible for the losses.
She also claimed that the pieces of jewellery were in the possession of the authorities at all material time. Among others, Rosmah is asking for the police and the government to compensate and/or contribute to the reliefs sought by the jeweller.
A defendant can initiate this against a third party who is not part of the main suit, in order to claim contribution, indemnity or any remedy which is claimed by the plaintiff.
The firm, which boasts A-lister clientele like Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie, had refiled the US$14.57 million suit in April last year for the pieces of jewellery which were despatched to Rosmah in February 2018.
In her statement of defence, Rosmah had said there were companies like Global Royalty which sought publicity for their products, and wanted her to be their customer. She added that items would be sent to her to attract buyers and she was not obligated to purchase them.
In reply, the firm had said that it was a "well-established and renowned jeweller" operating internationally and did not need additional publicity from Rosmah.
Previously, the High Court had also dismissed the international jeweller's application for a summary judgement against Rosmah. Ong had ruled that there were triable issues in the case which needed to be ventilated in a full trial.
The court had also allowed Rosmah's security for cost application and fixed security cost at RM75,000 to be paid by the Beirut-based firm.
Rosmah filed the security for cost application, arguing that if she was successful in the lawsuit, she would have trouble seeking costs from Lebanese-based Global Royalty as it is outside the jurisdiction of the Malaysian courts, and Malaysia does not have a reciprocal enforcement judgement in Lebanon.
Rosmah had sought for the jewellery company to pay the security costs of US$1 million or its equivalent in Malaysian ringgit within 14 days of the court order.