GEORGE TOWN, July 29 — Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said he will respond to P. Ramasamy in court over the latter’s defamation suit filed against him recently.

He said he has not seen the documents for the defamation suit filed by the former deputy chief minister II.

"However, this is a court matter so let this be handled at the court level,” he said when asked about the defamation suit during a press conference earlier today.

He said he doesn’t have any further information so far as he has not received the documents yet.

He said there was a news report on the suit on the FMT news portal but since the case is still in the early stages, he will wait for it to come up in court.

According to court documents sighted by Malay Mail, Ramasamy, currently the chairman of new party United for Rights of Malaysian Party’s (Urimai), filed the writ of summons naming Chow as the defendant at the Sessions Court in George Town on July 18.

In his statement of claim, Ramasamy accused Chow of making false accusations against him in the latter’s Facebook post on October 3 last year.

The alleged false accusations were regarding Ramasamy’s involvement in the approval of a deal between Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and Umech Land Sdn Bhd.

He claimed that Chow’s remarks were defamatory as it had implied that he was involved in corrupt practices and had damaged his standing as a respected politician and a former academic.

Ramasamy is demanding general, aggravated and exemplary damages.

He is also seeking a mandatory injunction for Chow to retract the statements and to publish an unconditional public apology in major newspapers and on Facebook.