KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Court today dismissed Umno man Jamal Yunos's request to appeal the judgment in a libel suit against him by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, ending a seven-year legal battle.
The three-member panel, led by Sabah and Sarawak Chief Judge Rahman Sebli, said that the two legal questions posed by the Sungai Besar Umno division chief to obtain leave for an appeal lacked merit, FMT reported.
Rahman explained that the questions did not meet the requirements outlined in Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
To be granted leave, an applicant must demonstrate to the apex court that the proposed appeal involves new legal or constitutional questions of significant public interest being raised for the first time.
Rahman, along with Justices Nordin Hassan and Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, awarded RM30,000 in costs to Kok.
Lawyer SN Nair and Jaden Phoon represented Kok, a DAP national vice-chairman, while counsel Rejinder Singh appeared for Jamal.
On March 27, a three-member Court of Appeal panel upheld a High Court ruling that found Jamal liable for defaming Kok and ordered him to pay her RM300,000 in damages.
Kok filed the defamation suit in 2017 after Jamal accused her of misappropriating funds from the Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor under the Selangor government's Skim Mesra Usia Emas initiative.
In his judgment two years ago, trial judge Arief Emran Arifin said that Jamal's comments at a press conference in 2017 were meant to attack Kok both personally and in her professional capacity as an MP.
Kok argued in her lawsuit that Jamal's remarks implied she had misused state funds and acted unethically.
Nair informed reporters today that Jamal complied with the Court of Appeal's order by paying the judgment sum on April 14.