Defamation suit resolved after Teng retracts statements

GEORGE TOWN: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s defamation suit against Teng Chang Yeow was resolved after the former Penang Barisan Nasional chairman agreed to retract the statements he made about Lim and the Penang undersea tunnel project.

Lawyer Simon Murali, representing Lim, told the High Court here that the suit was resolved after both parties entered a consent judgment in which Teng, as the defendant in the case, agreed to retract the defamatory statements he made last year.

Simon said the defendant agreed to willingly and unconditionally retract the statements he made at a press conference on Jan 16 and Jan 18 last year, which were published in The New Straits Times and Berita Harian on Jan 17, and in The New Straits Times on Jan 19.

“Both the plaintiff and defendant will not have any other claims against each other for now or in future with regards to this case,” he said before Judge Rosilah Yop yesterday.

Teng had earlier read out his statement of retraction before the judge.

“I hereby unconditionally and unreservedly retract the impugned statements that I made in the press conference on Jan 16 and Jan 18, 2018, respectively.

“I regret the hardship and difficulties caused to YB Tuan Lim Guan Eng due to the publications of the above in The New Straits Times and Berita Harian,” he said.

Lim, who was also present in the courtroom, filed the suit against Teng on March 3, 2018, as the accusations about the project were made when he was the Penang chief minister.

In his statement of claims, Lim claimed that Teng had allowed or caused the false statements to be reported and published in the two newspapers or their online portals. — Bernama