Peguam Negara Malaysia v Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd (No. Syarikat 489718-U) (08(L)-4-06/2020(W))

Federal Court of Malaysia2 Jul 202008(L)-4-06/2020(W)

The written judgment as the court issued it, with the coram, case number, and source links. Every paragraph has its own anchor.

Open official source PDF Report an issue

Content

Page 1 of 7 DALAM MAHKAMAH PERSEKUTUAN MALAYSIA DI PUTRAJAYA PERMOHONAN SIVIL NO.: 08(L)-4-06/2020 (W) ________________________________________ Dalam perkara komen-komen dalam suatu artikel bertajuk CJ orders all courts to be fully operational from July 1 Dan Dalam perkara suatu permohonan minta kebenaran untuk memulakan prosiding komital kerana menghina Mahkamah selaras dengan Perkara 126 Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Aturan 52 Kaedah-Kaedah Mahkamah 2012 Dan Dalam perkara mengenai Seksyen 13 Akta Mahkamah Kehakiman 1964 Dan Dalam perkara mengenai Kaedah 3 Kaedah-Kaedah Mahkamah Persekutuan 1995 Dan Dalam perkara Aturan 92 Kaedah-Kaedah Mahkamah 2012 PEGUAM NEGARA MALAYSIA … PEMOHON Page 2 of 7

Dan

MKINI DOTCOM SDN BHD (No Syarikat: 489718-U)

KETUA EDITOR, MALAYSIAKINI … RESPONDEN-RESPONDEN CORAM: ROHANA BINTI YUSUF, PCA AZAHAR BIN MOHAMED, CJM ABANG ISKANDAR BIN ABANG HASHIM, CJSS HAJI MOHD ZAWAWI BIN SALLEH, FCJ NALLINI PATHMANATHAN, FCJ VERNON ONG LAM KIAT, FCJ ABDUL RAHMAN BIN SEBLI, FCJ Page 3 of 7 DECISION ON ENCL. (Setting Aside of leave order by Malaysiakini) [1] This is our decision on whether the application by Malaysiakini in Enclosure 22 to set aside the leave granted by this Court should be allowed. The subject of the contempt proceedings relates to the following comments which appeared in Malaysiakini on the 9 June 2020:

(i) Ayah Punya kata: The High Courts are already acquitting criminals without any trial. The country has gone to the dogs;

Subparagraph

(ii) GrayDeer0609: Kangaroo courts fully operational? Musa Aman 43 charges fully acquitted. Where is law and order in this country? Law of the Jungle? Better to defund the judiciary!

Subparagraph

(iii) Legit: This Judge is a shameless joker. The judges are out of control and the judicial system is completely broken. The crooks are being let out one by one in an expeditious manner and will running wild looting the country back again. This Chief Judge is talking about opening of the courts. Covid 19 slumber kah!

Subparagraph

(iv) Semua Boleh – Bodoh pun Boleh: Hey Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat - Berapa JUTA sudah sapu - 46 kes corruption - satu kali Hapus!!! Tak Malu dan Tak Page 4 of 7 Takut Allah Ke? Neraka Macam Mana? Tak Takut Jugak? Lagi – Bayar balik sedikit wang sapu – lepas jugak. APA JUSTICE ini??? Penipu Rakyat ke? Sama sama sapu wang Rakyat ke???

(v) Victim: The Judiciary in Bolihland is a laughing stock. [2] We are mindful that in the course of adjudicating on the setting aside application, we should not venture into or purport to decide the substantive merits of the committal application, which is properly the subject matter of the second stage of the adjudication. [3] In respect of this issue we are of the view that the following facts as revealed:

(a) The 1st respondent facilitates publication;

(b) The editorial policy allowing editing, removing and modifying comments;

(d) Evidence revealing that the editors of the 1st respondent review postings on a daily basis. [4] Based on all these facts inter alia, we are of the view that the respondents had published the impugned comments and that a prima facie case had been made out. Page 5 of 7 [5] We are also of the view that, furthermore by virtue of section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950 the respondents are presumed to have published the impugned comments. The presumption is a rebuttable one. Hence, we find a prima facie case has been made out for the following reasons:

(a) The words read out above are contemptuous as agreed by both parties;

(b) Prima facie there has been publication by Malaysiakini as these statements appeared on their news portal. [6] The other grounds relied upon by the respondents to set aside the leave are the followings:

(i) O. 52 r. 2B of the Rules of Court 2012 – Procedural requirement On the requirement of notice pursuant to O. 52 r. 2B which has not been complied with, on the facts of this case, we agree that the non-compliance is not fatal or prejudicial to the respondents.

Subparagraph

(ii) Commencement at Federal Court Looking at the nature of the impugned comments earlier elaborated, which implicate the judiciary as a whole, which also include the Chief Justice of the Federal Page 6 of 7 Court, we are of the view that this Court is the right forum to commence these proceedings. [7] On all the above reasons, the application is, hereby unanimously dismissed, and we will hear the merits of the Attorney General’s application in Encl. 19 on another date. [8] Pending the final disposal of the matter, we hereby direct parties not to make any comment on this case to avoid sub judice. signed ROHANA YUSUF President of the Court of Appeal Putrajaya Dated: 2nd July 2020 Page 7 of 7 Counsel for the Applicant: Puan Suzana binti Atan (SFC), (Puan Narkunavathy Sundareson (SFC), with her) Attorney General’s Chambers 45, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 4, 62100 Putrajaya Counsel for the Respondents: Malik Imtiaz Sarwar (Surendra Ananth And Khoo Suk Chyi with him) Messrs. Surendra Ananth No. 4, Jalan Dalaman Tunku Bukit Tunku 50480 Kuala Lumpur Watching Brief (Bar Council): Datuk Joy Wilson Appukuttan Messrs. KH Lim & Co. Unit T3-22-01, 22nd Floor, Tower 3 Pusat Perdagangan Icon City No. 1B, Jalan SS 8/39 47300 Petaling Jaya Selangor Watching Brief (Centre for YB Senator Yusmadi Yusoff Independent Journalism and Messrs. Fahda Nur Yusmadi Gerakan Media): Unit 5-05-03A, Blok 5, VSQ @ PJ City Centre, Jalan Utara 46200 Petaling Jaya Selangor Watching Brief (International New Sin Yew Federation of Journalists Messrs. Amer BON (IFJ) and National Journalist B2-2-13A, Solaris Dutamas Union of Malaysia (NJUM): No. 1, Jalan Dutamas 1 50480 Kuala Lumpur

Something wrong on this page?

Wrong text, a broken link, out-of-date content, or a removal request — tell us and we'll check it against the official source.

Report an issue Request removal

Malaysian judgment

Case metadata

Court: Federal Court of Malaysia
Decision date: 2 Jul 2020
Case number: 08(L)-4-06/2020(W)
Coram: YAA TAN SRI ROHANA BINTI YUSUF; YAA TAN SRI AZAHAR BIN MOHAMED; YAA TAN SRI DATO' ABANG ISKANDAR BIN ABANG HASHIM; YA DATUK SERI HAJI MOHD ZAWAWI BIN SALLEH; YA DATUK NALLINI PATHMANATHAN; YA DATUK VERNON ONG LAM KIAT; YA DATO' ABDUL RAHMAN BIN SEBLI
Practice area: Contempt of Court - Decision on application to set aside leave order granted pursuant to O. 52 r. 3(1) of the Rules of Court 2012 - grounds for setting aside - Notice pursuant to O.52 r.2B - non-compliance is not fatal - the right forum - Federal Court - as impugned comments implicate the judiciary as a whole - does not necessarily have to commence at High Court - Application dismissed Evidence Law - section 114A of Evidence Act - presumption of fact on publication - impugned comments were contemptuous - prima facie publication on news portal
Version: 9999_decision of malaysiakini (edit 372020).pdf 1
Published: 1 Jul 2020
Source ID: ecd15ef6-9bbc-484d-abd7-40e10c0b3d46

Catchwords

Contempt of Court - Decision on application to set aside leave order granted pursuant to O. 52 r. 3(1) of the Rules of Court 2012 - grounds for setting aside - Notice pursuant to O.52 r.2B - non-compliance is not fatal - the right forum - Federal Court - as impugned comments implicate the judiciary as a whole - does not necessarily have to commence at High Court - Application dismissed Evidence Law - section 114A of Evidence Act - presumption of fact on publication - impugned comments were contemptuous - prima facie publication on news portal

Parties

PEGUAM NEGARA MALAYSIA - applicant - ejudgment_parties
1. MKINI DOTCOM SDN BHD (NO. SYARIKAT 489718-U) - respondent - ejudgment_parties
2. KETUA EDITOR, MALAYSIAKINI - respondent - ejudgment_parties

Primary source

Compare this reader text against the official judgment source.

Open source PDF

Catchwords

Peguam Negara Malaysia v Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd (No. Syarikat 489718-U) (08(L)-4-06/2020(W))

How this case connects

Cited by

Authorities cited

Dan

Something wrong on this page?

Peguam Negara Malaysia v Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd (No. Syarikat 489718-U) (08(L)-4-06/2020(W))

How this case connects

Cited by

Authorities cited

Dan

Something wrong on this page?