PETALING JAYA: Berjaya Corporation Berhad founder and adviser Tan Sri Vincent Tan has obtained a temporary restraining order against Kedah Menteri Besar (MB) Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor in a defamation suit filed on Aug 9 at the Shah Alam High Court.
Tan’s counsel Chuar Kia Lin said the court allowed the application for an ex-parte injunction yesterday and a copy of the order has been served on Sanusi’s legal team.
The order will be in effect until Aug 25.
He said Sanusi’s team would be allowed to counter the order, pending disposal of the main defamation suit.
Tan and Berjaya Land Berhad claimed that Sanusi had made a speech defaming them during his “Jelajah Mega PN Best” / “PN BEST Sayangi Kedah Sejahtera mega tour” state election campaign on Aug 2.
The speech was allegedly broadcast live to the public and republished on multiple social media channels, including Astro Awani, YouTube Live Video, Astro Awani Facebook Live Video, TV PAS Facebook Live Video and KiniTV YouTube Video.
The suit was filed after Sanusi failed to meet the requirements stated in an Aug 4 letter served on the then caretaker Kedah MB, demanding a public apology and compensation of RM200 million over his defamatory and untrue comments against Tan and Berjaya Land relating to the Selangor Maritime Gateway project.
Tan and Berjaya Land claimed Sanusi’s defamatory statements depicted them as, among others, a corrupt person/company and that they were cronies of caretaker Selangor MB Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
They added that his speech accused them of having directly or indirectly received a 600-acre parcel of free land from the Selangor government and that they have directly or indirectly given benefits to the Selangor MB in exchange for the said land.
The duo claimed Sanusi’s speech alleged that they had benefitted from the Selangor government through cronyism and nepotism, as well as causing Selangor and its residents to suffer at least RM180 million in losses.
Tan and Berjaya Land are seeking general, compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages from Sanusi, along with an injunction to restrain him from repeating any matters alluding to them contained in his speech.
The defamatory allegations, that were aimed at damaging the business reputation of Tan and Berjaya Land and contained politically motivated, malicious and disparaging statements, have been categorically denied by Berjaya Land and a point-by-point rebuttal was issued via a press release by Berjaya Land on Aug 4 to correct the false and misleading statements.
Tan said: “Since (Sanusi) has failed to meet our demands, Berjaya Land and I have taken the necessary legal steps by filing a lawsuit against him.
“This legal action seeks to address the grievances and seek appropriate remedies against Sanusi for his defamatory words and actions.
“Berjaya and its subsidiaries have always upheld the highest standards of corporate governance and protected the interests of our stakeholders.
“We firmly believe in the rule of law and will pursue all available legal avenues to ensure a satisfactory resolution of this matter.”
