Appeals court finds no defamation, orders Guan Eng to pay RM30,000 costs after losing suit against ex-minister, MalaysiaNow

The Court of Appeal today overturned a High Court ruling that found former minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and news portal MalaysiaNow liable for defamation against DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng.

In a unanimous decision, the three-member bench also dismissed Lim's appeal seeking an increase in the RM50,000 damages awarded to him in March. Instead, the former finance minister was ordered to pay RM30,000 in costs to Zuraida, MalaysiaNow and its editor.

The panel comprised judges Mohd Firuz Jaffril, Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid and Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh.

On March 5, High Court judicial commissioner Shoba Rajah Dorai Rajah ordered Zuraida and MalaysiaNow to jointly pay RM50,000 in damages to Lim.

The suit revolves around an article published by MalaysiaNow on May 10, 2024, which quoted Zuraida as saying that Lim, during his tenure as finance minister between 2018 and 2020, had rejected twice a proposal to build affordable housing for former plantation workers in Bestari Jaya.

Zuraida said she tried to secure funding for the project but Lim did not include it in the 2019 budget. A second attempt was also unsuccessful, with lack of funds cited as the reason.

Zuraida's comments were in response to an announcement by Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming during the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election campaign.

Nga said more than 200 units of People’s Housing Project (PPR) homes would be built in Bestari Jaya, part of the Kuala Kubu Baharu consituency, a move which Zuraida said was timed for the by-election and therefore politically motivated.

In his suit, Lim denied the claims made by Zuraida and accused her of painting him as racist and dishonest, among other things.

During the trial, Lim and his former aide Tony Pua denied there had been any meeting with Zuraida on the matter.

However, N Jayaselan, who served as director-general during Zuraida's tenure in the housing and local government ministry, told the High Court that he and Zuraida did meet Lim to discuss the Bestari Jaya housing project.

When questioned by Lim's lawyer, Jayaselan said the meetings were not documented as they were private discussions between two ministers.

In delivering the grounds for its decision, the Court of Appeal today said the article in question was not defamatory as it did not carry the alleged meaning that Lim had abused his powers or was unfit to hold office.

It said that, when read in its entirety, the MalaysiaNow article stated that a housing project had not been approved because there was no funding available at the time.

It also said the High Court had not properly dealt with the defences raised by the three defendants, adding that the decision to award damages to Lim relied mainly on the absence of documentary evidence rather than on what had actually transpired when the two ministers met.

Zuraida and MalaysiaNow were represented by lawyers Nizamuddin Hamid and Adib Musa, while Lim was represented by Sankara Nair, Wong Guo Jin and Maniggandan Gopalan.