THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered Lokman Noor Adam to file his statement of defence in Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s defamation suit with regard to the latter’s Covid-19 vaccination status by March 3.

When contacted by reporters, lawyer Norfazilah Jaafar who represents Lokman as the defendant said the court also ordered the plaintiff (Khairy) to file an affidavit in reply to the defendant’s statement on March 17.

“Also, both parties (plaintiff and defendant) must file an interlocutory application (if any) on March 21,” she said after the online case management proceedings before deputy registrar Puteri Nursheila Rahimi today.

On February 17, the High Court allowed Khairy’s application for the ex-parte injunction he obtained on February 3, to be extended until the inter-parte injunction is heard on May 10.

 Khairy on January 25 filed a defamation suit against Lokman seeking an injunction order for Lokman to delete his defamatory statements and videos along with captions, titles and comments within 24 hours, and an injunction restraining the defendant from republishing the posts.

He also requested that the defendant remove the statements republished on all news portals as well as social media accounts within 24 hours.

Based on the statement of claim, Khairy, 46, who is also Rembau MP, filed the suit in his personal capacity claiming that Lokman had defamed him through two videos and a picture uploaded on the Facebook page Lokman Noor Adam Official on January 6, besides making the statement through two live broadcasts on the same Facebook page and Youtube account (Lokman Adam) on January 10.

Khairy claimed the defamatory statements implied he had lied and deceived the public regarding his vaccination status.

According to Khairy, the defamatory publications had caused severe damage to his reputation and integrity and reduced the public’s trust and confidence in him whether in a personal or professional capacity, as well as causing his reputation to be degraded within the sane community. – Bernama, February 28, 2022.