KEPONG lawmaker Lim Lip Eng has filed an application in the Court of Appeal for a stay of a court ruling for him to pay RM2 million in damages in a defamation suit filed by MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder Jessy Lai Cha Suang.

His lawyer, Guok Ngek Seong, confirmed that the notice of motion seeking a stay order was filed yesterday together with a certificate of urgency.

In the application, Lim wants the court to stay a High Court’s decision, made on March 16, which ordered him to pay RM2 million in damages pending the disposal of his appeal in the appellate court.

He is also seeking an interim stay of the High Court’s decision pending the disposal of the stay application.

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

Guok said the case management is fixed for tomorrow before a Court of Appeal registrar.

Yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Lim’s application for a stay of the court’s decision, prompting him to file the stay application in 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 MP’s statements, published in the English and Chinese media, had implied that she was a dishonest person.

She 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.

Lai claimed 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’s decision, judge Akhtar Tahir said the court found MonSpace and Lai had proven their claims against Lim for defamation and that the politician’s statements also tarnished their image and reputation. – Bernama, May 23, 2023.