Govt appeals against RM11.2 mln damages awarded to The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is appealing against the award of RM11.2 million damages to publishing firm The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd.

The publisher had sued for loss of income due to the suspension of its two publications - The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily - by the Home Ministry (KDN) for three months in 2015, following several reports on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue.

Senior Federal Counsel Alice Loke Yee Ching, who represented the KDN secretary-general and the Home Minister as respondents, revealed the government’s decision to appeal after case management in the chambers of High Court Judge Datuk Nordin Hassan yesterday, which was also attended by lawyer Raja Eileen Soraya Raja Aman.

“We think no damages should be awarded. That is the government’s position.

Loke said her office would seek the grounds of judgment regarding the damages decided upon by the deputy registrar of High Court Norazlin Othman, before the appeal was heard.

Raja Eileen said that the court had set March 26 for further case management.

On Dec 17 last year, the High Court ordered the KDN secretarygeneral and the Home Minister to pay RM11,260,350 to The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily over their three-month suspension from July 27, 2015.

The court also ordered both respondents to pay 4% in interest beginning July 27, 2015 until the full settlement of the case.

This was following the Federal Court’s decision on August 9, 2017, which ruled that The Edge could seek damages from the Home Minister for the loss of income suffered from the suspension of its two publications after dismissing the Home Minister’s and the KDN secretarygeneral’s appeal to set aside the Court of Appeal decision, which allowed The Edge to seek damages from both parties.

With the Federal Court’s decision, the case was returned to the High Court for assessment of damages.

Afer the KDN suspended the two publications in July 27, 2015, the directive was revoked by the High Court on Sept 21, 2015, allowing The Edge’s application for a judicial review to challenge the directive. – Bernama