GEORGE TOWN: Former Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy has filed a defamation suit against Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow over the controversial Batu Kawan land deal issue.
Ramasamy's lawyer Shamsher Thind Singh said the first case management has been scheduled online for Aug 6.
"The suit was filed on July 18 and the writ was sealed today," he told the New Straits Times.
The suit arose from a statement on Chow's Facebook page on Oct 3 last year, which Ramasamy claimed had severely tarnished his reputation.
The post was subsequently reproduced by the local media and social media users.
As at June 30, this year, the posting had garnered 375 reactions, 42 comments and was shared 32 times.
Ramasamy, who served as the deputy chief minister II from 2008 to 2023, claimed Chow's Facebook post contained false accusations regarding his involvement in the approval of a deal between Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and Umech Land Sdn Bhd.
Chow's posting had suggested that due diligence was carried out and approvals were granted by a committee, participated by Ramasamy, for the joint venture project with Umech Land.
However, according to Ramasamy's court filing, he claimed otherwise.
Ramasamy alleged that no due diligence was carried out, no acknowledgment by the committee to approve the collaboration between the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and UMECH Land to develop the land in question in Batu Kawan and no selection of UMECH Land as the strategic partner by PDC on Feb 9, last year.
Ramasamy said Umech Land's selection was made without his knowledge or involvement.
According to his statement of claims, Ramasamy is seeking damages from Chow to be determined by the court.
He is also seeking a mandatory injunction to force Chow to retract his statements in the posting and a public apology.
He is also asking the court for a prohibitory injunction, preventing Chow from repeating the alleged defamatory statements, and costs.
On Oct 17, last year, the PDC Board decided to terminate a joint venture agreement with UMECH Land Sdn Bhd following calls to suspend the controversial sale of a PDC-owned land in Byram, in the Seberang Prai Selatan district.
PDC gave UMECH Land a three months' notice based on clause 19 of the PDC - UMECH Land Sdn Bhd Enterprise Agreement.
PDC said a change in the majority of the equity structure of UMECH Land to the extent that there was a change in the party controlling and leading the project that was implemented without notifying and obtaining PDC's official approval was an issue that was taken seriously and could not be accepted by the PDC Board.
Therefore, the PDC Board decided to terminate the joint venture agreement with UMECH Land by giving three months' notice based on clause 19 of the PDC - UMECH Land Sdn Bhd Enterprise Agreement.
At the height of the issue, Chow came under fire over the sale of the land after the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC) raised questions on the awarding of the project through direct negotiations and why local companies were not given the opportunity in the project.
There were also questions raised that the land could have been transferred to a developer.