KEPONG lawmaker Lim Lip Eng has been granted a stay to pay RM2 million in damages in a defamation suit filed against him by MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder Jessy Lai.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench allowed Lim’s application for the stay after his lawyer, S.N. Nair, told the court that his client and the respondents had reached an agreement to stay the High Court order made on March 16 pending the disposal of Lim’s appeal at the Court of Appeal.

“The parties involved also agreed that the appellant should deposit the sum of the judgment of RM2 million into the client’s account in the name of the solicitors for the respondents, namely Messrs. A.J. Ariffin, Yeo & Harpa, until the disposal of the appeal and that amount will be placed in one fixed deposit account,” said Nair.

Lawyer Harpal Singh Grewal, representing MonSpace and Lai, confirmed the matter.

The panel of judges, comprising Kamaludin Md Said, Hashim Hamzah and Wong Kian Kheong recorded the consent order.

On March 16, the High Court ordered Lim to pay RM2 million to the e-commerce company and Lai after it allowed their defamation lawsuit. Lim filed an appeal on the same day.

Last May 22, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed Lim’s application for a stay of the High Court’s decision, prompting him to file a fresh stay application at the Court of Appeal.

In the suit filed in June 2019, Lai said Lim had claimed that she was running an illegal business and had cheated Chinese investors. 

She said the MP’s statements, published in the English and Chinese media, implied that she was a dishonest person.

Lai said Lim had made the statements in May 2017 and November 2018 when he took a group of individuals, purportedly MonSpace’s investors, to her office and subsequently lodged police reports against her.

She claimed that Lim’s statements had pressured the authorities, including the police, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, to take action against her.

In the High Court decision, judge Akhtar Tahir said the court found that MonSpace and Lai had proven their claims against Lim for defamation and that Lim’s statements also tarnished their image and reputation. – Bernama, November 29, 2023.