GEORGE TOWN, Dec 11 ― The High Court here has dismissed Baling MP Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim’s defamation suit against former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng with costs.

Deputy Registrar L. Umma Devi, who read out the decision in chambers on behalf of Justice Datuk Rosilah Yop, said the suit was dismissed as the Umno lawmaker failed to prove his claims.

Lim’s lawyer, Datuk N. Mureli, told reporters outside the courtroom that the plaintiff did not have sufficient grounds for the suit.

“He was ordered to pay RM50,000 in costs to my client,” he said.

Azeez had filed a suit against Lim for allegedly issuing defamatory statements against him during a press conference in Penang on February 28 in 2018 when Lim was still the Penang chief minister.

Azeez claimed Lim had connected him with a payment of RM3 million in consultation fee by the developer of the Penang undersea tunnel project.

He was seeking, among others, general and exemplary damages and other relief deemed fit by the court.