Sivarasa’s defamation suit against Tengku Adnan settled

KUALA LUMPUR: The defamation suit filed by Deputy Rural Development Minister R. Sivarasa against Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was resolved amicably in the High Court yesterday.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya, representing Sivarasa, said the matter was settled after Tengku Adnan retracted a statement he made on June 1 last year, which Sivarasa claimed had defamed him.

“My client does not intent to prolong the issue, so the case is settled. The plaintiff (Sivarasa) also withdrew his claims in the suit with no order to cost,” he told reporters after the case management, which was held in chambers before judicial commissioner Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, who then recorded the consent judgment.

Also present during the proceeding was Tengku Adnan’s lawyer, Datuk S. Satharuban.

Sivarasa, who is Sungai Buloh Member of Parliament, filed the suit on June 13 last year claiming that Tengku Adnan had made defamatory remarks against him in his speech at a breaking-offast at Masjid Jamek Alam Shah in Cheras.

In the statement of claim, Sivarasa alleged that the remarks implied that he did not respect a place of worship for Muslims when using a mosque for political purposes, disrespecting the purity of the mosque or surau in the month of Ramadan.

The defamatory remarks were republished in Malaysiakini website, the print and electronic media.

The plaintiff also claimed that Tengku Adnan had the knowledge of his statement on May 31, 2017, which denied that he had made political talks at an event at Masjid An-Nur in Kampung Melayu Subang on May 24, 2017.

Sivarasa had sought general and aggravated damages, interest and costs as well as an injunction order to prevent the defendant (Tengku Adnan) from reproducing the same defamatory words against him. - Bernama