PUTRAJAYA (Sept 29): The Court of Appeal on Monday has maintained that Kepong Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng was liable for defaming MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder Datuk Seri Jessy Lai.
However, the amount of damages to be paid was slashed to just RM75,000, from the RM2 million awarded previously. In a unanimous decision, a three-member appellate court panel affirmed the findings of the lower court but found the damages award to be “excessive”.
The award was also not “in trend” with recent cases, judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said in reading the panel’s broad grounds.
The court awarded damages of RM50,000 to Lai and RM25,000 to MonSpace, as well as RM50,000 for costs, compared to RM250,000 by the High Court.
No aggravated cost was awarded.
The panel was led by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim. Datuk Faizah Jamaludin, who is a judge at the appellant court, also sat on the bench.
In rejecting Lim's defence of justification, fair comment, and qualified privilege, Sequerah noted that Lim's comments were based on unsupported allegations which he failed to corroborate and verify independently.
Lim was appealing against High Court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir's decision in March 2023. Akhtar ordered the DAP politician to pay RM1 million in damages to the company and another RM500,000 to Lai after finding that Lim's statement had tarnished their image.
Besides this, the court also ordered Lim to pay RM500,000 in total of aggravated damages to the company and Lai. In addition, Akhtar ordered Lim to pay costs of RM250,000.
The award was one of the largest for defamation. Lim crowdfunded about RM2.25 million, which is being held in a fixed deposit account in escrow under Messrs AJ Ariffin, Yeo & Harpal — the law firm representing MonSpace and Lai — until the case’s completion.
Lim was represented by SN Nair and Guok Ngek Seong, while Ivanpal Singh Grewal and Dhanesh Subramaniam Nair represented MonSpace and Lai.
Guok told The Edge that the balance of the money collected will be given to charities.
In a brief statement addressing Monday's decision, Lim expressed his gratitude to the public who had helped with his crowd funding. He added that details were to follow with regards to disbursements of the funds to charity.
He also thanked his lawyers who handled the case and said that he would continue to be vocal on issues, without fear or favour.
MonSpace and Lai filed the suit in 2019 after Lim allegedly made multiple defamatory statements, including on May 23, 2017, when he and several Chinese nationals visited the company headquarters in Bukit Jalil.
In the suit, Lai was seeking general and aggravated damages for 15 purported defamatory remarks made by the politician through five publications between 2017 and 2018.
In the statement of claim, both Lai and the company alleged that Lim’s statement connoted that they were running an illegal business, had cheated the Chinese investors and implied that Lai was a dishonest person.
Lai further claimed that the MP’s statements had pressured the authorities, including the police, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, to take action against her.
In 2021, it was reported that the High Court had allowed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to forfeit RM1.5 million from Lai under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).