Federal court rejects Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu's leave to appeal

PUTRAJAYA: Senator Tan Sri S. Nallakaruppan and Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd cannot rely on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's previous criminal conviction and a remark in a Federal Court judgment to attack Anwar's character in a defamation lawsuit.

This follows a decision by a three-man bench in the Federal Court today to reject Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu and its editor-in-chief, Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak's application for leave to appeal.

They wanted the court to grant leave to enable them to appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling that Anwar's previous criminal case could not be used to attack his character in the lawsuit.

Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz wanted to bring in Anwar's corrupt practice conviction and a remark in the Federal Court majority judgment in 2004 in Anwar's sodomy I case which alleged that he (Anwar) had homosexual tendencies.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum who chaired the bench said they (justices) were unanimous in the decision to dismiss their leave to appeal application after ruling that it did not have merit.

He also ordered them to pay RM15,000 costs.
Anwar filed a RM100 million defamation suit against Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz on March 26, 2012 over a 2012 article published in Utusan Malaysia.

The Court of Appeal on May 29 last year allowed Anwar's appeal to overturn a High Court decision and had ruled that Section 43 of the Evidence Act 1950 prohibits the evidence of previous convictions to be used in civil cases.

After the decision, Anwar's lawyer R. Sivarasa said Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz cannot raise any defence arising from criminal matters.

He said following the Federal Court's refusal to grant leave, it confirms the Court of Appeal decision.

Lawyer Shahid Adli Kamarudin, who also acted for Anwar, told reporters that the matter had been set for case management at the High Court on Thursday. Nallakaruppan, Utusan Melayu and Abdul Aziz was represented by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. — Bernama