PUTRAJAYA: DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng has filed an appeal against part of a High Court decision that ordered Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to pay him RM1.35 million in damages for defamation.
In a notice of appeal filed on Nov 29 through Messrs Guok Partnership at the Court of Appeal, the former Penang chief minister expressed dissatisfaction with a portion of judge Roz Mawar Rozain's Nov 8 ruling.
The appeal concerns the absence of an order for a five per cent annual interest on the total awarded amount, calculated from the date the suit was filed on March 27 last year until full payment is made.
On Nov 8, Roz Mawar allowed Lim's defamation suit against the former prime minister regarding allegations related to the revocation of a tax exemption for Yayasan Albukhary.
The court found that Lim, who is Bagan member of parliament, had successfully proven his case against the Pagoh MP based on the balance of probabilities, the standard of proof required in civil suits.
As a result, Roz Mawar ordered Muhyiddin to pay Lim RM1.05 million in general damages and RM150,000 each in aggravated and exemplary damages.
Additionally, Muhyiddin was directed to pay RM50,000 in costs to Lim, who served as finance minister under the Pakatan Harapan government from May 21, 2018, to Feb 24, 2020.
In her judgment, Roz Mawar stated that Muhyiddin's actions were improper, as he had access to resources to verify his understanding of the facts in his statement but failed to do so.
She added that Muhyiddin proceeded to make defamatory remarks against Lim despite being informed that the claims were untrue.
On Monday, Roz Mawar granted Muhyiddin a conditional stay of execution on the damages payment, ordering him to pay RM400,000 to Lim by Dec 31.
On Dec 9, Muhyiddin applied for a stay on the full RM1.402 million payment (including costs and allocatur), citing the substantial amount and requesting time to raise the necessary funds while his appeal is pending.