KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu (Bersatu) President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been ordered by the High Court to pay RM400,000 to DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng by Dec 31.
The amount is part of the RM1.4 million defamation damages awarded to the former Penang chief minister by the same court last month.
On Dec 9, Muhyiddin sought a stay on the payment pending his appeal, citing the large sum and the need for time to gather the funds.
During today's in-chambers proceedings, judge Roz Mawar Rozain granted a conditional stay, requiring Muhyiddin to pay RM400,000 by Dec 31 and the balance by Jan 27 next year.
Lim's lawyer, Chetan Jethwani, and Muhyiddin's counsel, Guok Ngek Seong, confirmed the decision to reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex.
On Dec 9, Lim filed for a bankruptcy notice against the former prime minister seeking RM1,402,000, which includes RM1.35 million in judgment damages, RM50,000 in costs and RM2,000 in allocatur fees.
The bankruptcy notice stated that Muhyiddin must pay the RM1.4 million judgment sum within seven days of its service, as per the High Court's final decision, unless the execution of the judgment is stayed.
Alternatively, he must secure the amount or prove he has a valid counterclaim equal to or exceeding the judgment sum.
On Nov 8, judge Roz Mawar ruled in favour of Lim in his defamation suit related to the revocation of a tax exemption for Yayasan Albukhary, ordering Muhyiddin to pay RM1.35 million in damages. The court found that Lim had proven his case on the balance of probabilities, the standard required in civil suits.
Lim had filed the lawsuit on March 27, 2023, accusing Muhyiddin of making three defamatory statements on Facebook on March 9, 11, and 12, 2023, regarding the tax exemption issue. The statements were subsequently published by various newspapers and news portals.
Lim alleged that the defamatory remarks implied he had abused his position and authority by directing the Inland Revenue Board to impose taxes and penalties on the charitable foundation, which was not supposed to be taxed.