Court extends Vincent Tan’s restraining order against Kedah MB until Oct 25

• Judicial Commissioner Choong Yeow Choy granted the ad-interim injunction as Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s lawyer Nurul Atiqah Badrul Hisham had informed the court that they needed time to file affidavits in reply and submission for the inter partes hearing (hearing involving both parties) of the injunction which was supposed to take place on Friday (Aug 25) morning.

SHAH ALAM (Aug 25): The Shah Alam High Court has extended Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) founder and adviser Tan Sri Vincent Tan's restraining order against Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor over alleged defamatory remarks the politician made concerning the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) project.

Judicial Commissioner Choong Yeow Choy granted the ad-interim injunction as Sanusi’s lawyer Nurul Atiqah Badrul Hisham had informed the court that they needed time to file affidavits in reply and submission for the inter partes hearing (hearing involving both parties) of the injunction which was supposed to take place on Friday (Aug 25) morning.

Tan and Sanusi’s legal teams were supposed to present oral submissions to the court for and against the imposition of the injunction against Sanusi before the main suit is completed.

Choong then set Oct 25 for the hearing and granted the ad-interim injunction. 

This means that Sanusi is prevented from making similar remarks about the SMG project until Oct 25, when the court decides to grant the injunction proper pending disposal of the lawsuit

Previously, on Aug 17, the High Court allowed Tan’s bid for an ex-parte (single party) injunction against Sanusi.

The defamation suit, sighted by The Edge, was filed at the Shah Alam High Court on Aug 8 via Tan’s lawyers. Tan and Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) are seeking general damages, compensatory damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.

Apart from that, the lawyers have also filed an application for the High Court to issue an injunction to stop Sanusi from making similar remarks in the future.

The lawyers claimed that Sanusi’s comments have "pervaded and permeated into the (Tan’s) family circle, further aggravating the mental trauma suffered by him and his family".

They also said that Sanusi’s comments are vindictive and malicious.

Tan, through his lawyers, claimed that Sanusi’s alleged defamatory comments imply that Tan is a corrupt person, corrupt businessman and a crony to the Selangor MB Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

Tan claimed that the comments imply that he had benefited directly or indirectly, or received for free a piece of 600-acre land from the Selangor state government.

Tan further claimed that Sanusi’s comments imply that he had given benefits to the Selangor state government for the said land, and as such caused the state to incur losses of RM180 million.

“The defamatory statements are completely untrue, extreme, vile and specious/spurious and have no basis whatsoever,” it read.

For the SMG project, the lawyers, in the writ, explained that a special purpose vehicle called Landasan Lumayan Berjaya Sdn Bhd (LLBSB) had been formed through a joint venture between Selangor’s Menteri Besar Incorporated’s (MBI) subsidiary, Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (45%) and Berjaya Hartanah Bhd (55%) to, among others, clean and develop the Klang River.

They explained that Tan and BLand never obtained or was never awarded any land measuring 600 acres valued at RM10 billion as alleged by Sanusi.

“In actual fact, only several parcels of land totalling 103.6 acres were identified as feasible for development and granted approval for alienation to LLBSB by the Selangor state government with specific conditions,” the statement read.

The statement clarified that BLand is the party that is required to raise funds to pay the premium based on market rate for the alienation of the 103.6-acre land to LLBSB.

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