Mediation process via Zoom over appeal by textile company

KUALA LUMPUR: The mediation process to resolve a lawsuit involving celebrity couple Awal Ashaari and his wife Scha Al-Yahya with textile company D’Haja (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which is currently in the appeal stage, is set for January 21.

D’Haja had filed an appeal to set aside a Sessions Court’s decision which allowed a suit by Awal, whose real name is Ahmad Awaluddin Ashaari, and Scha, or Sharifah Nor Azean Syed Mahadzir, against the company over alleged breach of the couple’s Bleu and Maroon exclusive perfume distribution contract.

Lawyer Muzzammil Merican Hasnal Rezua Merican, representing D’Haja, said the mediation process would be conducted via the Zoom application following implementation of the twoweek Movement Control Order (MCO) beginning Wednesday.

“The parties have agreed to go through the mediation process in the hope that it can reach a solution,” he said when contacted by Bernama after the e-review case management before Judicial Commissioner Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar yesterday.

Muzzammil Merican said the court set February 4 for another case management for both parties to inform the court of the mediation status.

On Sept 8 last year, the High Court proposed that the parties involved resolve the amount of compensation amicably through mediation without going through the appeal process. The appeal was filed by D’Haja on April 3, 2019 on the grounds that the Sessions Court Judge erred when allowing the suit by the celebrity couple in a decision made on March 27, 2019.

The couple was awarded RM345,305 in damages after winning their suit against D’Haja over alleged breach of contract for the exclusive distribution agreement of Bleu and Maroon perfumes.

Sessions Court Judge Shamsudin Abdullah also ordered D’Haja to pay general damages of RM10,000, five per cent interest starting from the filing date until full payment, as well as costs of RM5,000 to the couple.

The Sessions Court also allowed a counter-claim by D’Haja and ordered Awal and Scha to pay RM55,000 after finding that the couple had breached the agreement with the company by selling the perfume themselves to Brunei.

In a suit filed on April 30, 2018, Awal and Scha said they had entered into a contract for the exclusive distribution agreement of Bleu and Maroon brand perfumes with D’Haja on Oct 11, 2016 for two years until Oct 10, 2018.

However, they claimed that D’Haja failed to perform its responsibilities in accordance with the basic terms of the agreement, apart from failing to return a total of 3,215 bottles of perfume which were alleged to be damaged, failing to provide a record of the sales transactions and refusing to pay claim fort the loss.