Court dismisses Mahathir’s bid to raise QC costs

KUALA LUMPUR: A High Court judge has struck out Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s review application to increase the costs of the appointment of two Queen Counsel (QC) in the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim defamation suit against him.

Justice Hue Siew Kheng set March 27 to decide on Anwar’s application to review the taxation imposed in his Rm100mil defamation suit after hearing submissions by Anwar’s lawyer S.N. Nair yesterday.

Anwar is objecting to the costs of RM100,000 awarded by a senior assistant registrar last year for the appointment of two QC, who were said to have assisted Dr Mahathir in preparing a draft of his defence and supporting affidavits to strike out his defamation claim.

Geoffrey Shaw and Rupert Elliot were stated to have applied for RM335,392.55 for their consultation.

Nair said Dr Mahathir had filed for a cross-review, saying that the costs should be increased to RM545,446.

He said the registrar had erred in law as both QC did not make any application to practise in Malaysia.

Nair said Dr Mahathir had claimed that he was entitled to appoint a QC in view of his position.