PUTRAJAYA, April 8 — The Federal Court has set May 14 to hear former Attorney-General (AG), Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali’s application, to obtain leave to pursue his appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision in dismissing his RM10 million defamation lawsuit against DAP veteran, Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang.

His lawyer, M. Visvanathan, confirmed to Bernama the hearing date, when contacted today.

Mohamed Apandi filed the application on December 1, last year, after losing his appeal at the Court of Appeal on Nov 2, last year.

He wants the Federal Court to determine five legal questions.

Mohamed Apandi’s suit against the DAP veteran, over an article on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (IMDB) scandal, was dismissed by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on May 23, 2022.

In his suit, filed in 2019, Mohamed Apandi claimed that, on May 6, 2019, Lim had written and caused to be published an article titled “Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia’s on the road to integrity”, in Malaysiakini.

He said that the alleged libellous words in the article implied that he was involved in crime and had abetted in the 1MDB financial scandal, was a person with no morals and integrity, was unethical, and had abused his power when he was the AG.

Mohamed Apandi, who was the AG from July 27, 2015, to June 4, 2018, contended that the libellous words were untrue, and written to tarnish his image and credibility as a former Malaysian AG, for cheap publicity.

He sought aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as RM10 million in general damages, an injunction to prevent Lim and/or his agents from publishing the alleged defamatory words again, and other relief deemed fit by the court.

High Court Judge, Datuk Azimah Omar (now Court of Appeal judge), in dismissing Mohamed Apandi’s suit, ruled that Lim succeeded in justifying his qualified privileges when making those statements, as the 1MDB scandal involves criminality, illegalities and social and economic repercussions to the nation’s economy, as well as the morality of the nation’s top leaders and agencies. — Bernama