CONTROVERSIAL Muslim preacher Zakir Naik and Bagan Dalam assemblyman Satees Muniandy have reached a settlement after both agreed to record a consent judgment.

The consent judgement was recorded at the Kuala Lumpur High Court before judicial commissioner Johan Lee Abdullah, with Zakir, Satees, and their legal teams present.

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported Satees’ lawyer, Shamsher Singh Thind, said the suit was settled without any admission of liability by his client.

“There was also no order to costs,” Shamsher said.

Johan thanked both parties for coming to a resolution without lengthening the trial.

Zakir filed the suit against Satees in 2019 over the assemblyman’s remarks in an FMT article titled “DAP man blames LTTE crackdown on Zakir Naik’s presence”.

Zakir sued Satees over an article published by Malaysiakini in the same year, in which the assemblyman said the preacher should be deported for suggesting Malaysian Indians are more loyal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi than they were to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In his suit, Zakir said Satees had ridiculed him and depicted him as a threat to the country’s security.

Satees relied on the defence of fair comment and qualified privilege. 

The trial, which began yesterday, was scheduled for three days.

It began with Zakir on the stand, with the plaintiff having lined up two more witnesses. 

Satees and a police officer were to testify in the assemblyman’s defence. 

Lawyers Akberdin Abdul Kader and Rafie Shafie appeared for Zakir. 

Besides Shamsher, counsels A. Srimurugan, Gunamalar Joorindanjn and Tony Tian also represented Satees. – May 30, 2023.