Defamation suit: Court of Appeal rejects MB Kedah's appeal, increases damages to RM120,000
BERNAMA
April 3, 2023 
Defamation suit: Court of Appeal rejects MB Kedah's appeal, increases damages to RM120,000
Mahfuz (right) filed a defamation suit based on a message made by Muhammad Sanusi who implicated him as a representative for Pokok Sena area in the issue of moving Sport Toto to that area.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today ordered Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to pay damages of RM120,000 to former Pokok Sena Member of Parliament Datuk Mahfuz Omar in relation to a defamation suit.
This was after a panel of three judges consisting of Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya and Datuk Wong Kian Kheong allowed Mahfuz's counter-appeal for the quantum of damages to be increased from RM50,000 to RM120,000.
Meanwhile, the panel of judges rejected Muhammad Sanusi's appeal to set aside the High Court's decision on 8 Nov 2021 which ordered him to pay damages to Mahfuz after allowing Mahfuz's defamation suit.
In the judgement, Vazeer said there was no error by the High Court judge in his finding of liability but said that the quantum of damages awarded to Mahfuz by the High Court was low.
He also ordered Muhammad Sanusi to pay legal costs of RM10,000.
Lawyer Yusfarizal Yussoff, who represented Muhammad Sanusi, and lawyer Noorazmir Zakaria, who represented Mahfuz, confirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal when contacted by Bernama.
The decision was delivered through online proceedings today.
In November 2021, High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohd Arief Emran Arifin allowed Mahfuz's defamation suit and ordered Muhammad Sanusi to pay RM50,000 in damages to Mahfuz.
The High Court also issued an injunction order preventing Muhammad Sanusi or his agents from publishing defamatory words against Mahfuz in the future.
On 9 Oct 2019, Mahfuz filed the suit based on a post made by Muhammad Sanusi on his Facebook account on 30 July 2019, which linked Mahfuz as the representative of the people for the Pokok Sena area in the issue of the transfer of Sport Toto to the area.
Mahfuz also claimed that Muhammad Sanusi published a video lasting 7 minutes 57 seconds on his Facebook account on 27 July 2019 which showed a group of individuals protesting the opening of the Sport Toto branch in Pokok Sena while holding a banner with the plaintiff's name on it.
Yusfarizal said he would discuss with his client whether to file an application for permission to appeal in the Federal Court.
-- BERNAMA