KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): KomarkCorp Bhd, which lost its defamation suit against The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd in the High Court last month, is appealing against the court's decision, which found that the media company had not defamed it in an article about the manipulation of penny stocks that was published nearly three years ago.
In a bourse filing on Tuesday, the self-adhesive label company said it had filed a notice of appeal on April 22 against the judgement that was delivered by the High Court on March 26.
High Court judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz ruled that KomarkCorp had failed to prove its case on a balance of probabilities, and that the article entitled ‘Hidden hands behind penny stock surge under scrutiny’ was not defamatory.
In dismissing the case, she said the article did not refer to KomarkCorp, but was instead about authorities investigating a group of individuals suspected of using the plaintiff and other companies for unlawful purposes. KomarkCorp was listed as one of the vehicles the alleged individuals used.
In the lawsuit it initiated against The Edge, KomarkCorp was seeking damages and an injunction to restrain the publication from publishing the same or similar words arising from the article which it considered to be defamatory to the company.
According to court filings, KomarkCorp's appeal will be handled by Terence Lee & Co, instead of its previous counsel Messrs Chong + Kheng Hoe.