THE Court of Appeal has ordered former Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman to pay costs totalling RM120,000 to former Shah Alam MP Khalid Abd Samad and KiniTV Sdn Bhd.

Khalid and KiniTV had obtained leave to pursue their appeals to seek costs from Tajuddin whose defamation lawsuit was dismissed by the High Court.

A three-member bench, comprising Court of Appeal judges S. Nantha Balan, Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Choo Kah Sing, in a unanimous decision, ordered Tajuddin to pay RM60,000 in costs each to Khalid and KiniTV.

“The global costs include the costs of the High Court trial, leave to appeal before the Court of Appeal and for today’s proceedings,” said Nantha Balan, when setting aside the High Court’s decision in not awarding costs to Khalid and KiniTV.

He said the lower court judge had departed from the general practice by not awarding costs to the defendants (Khalid and KiniTV) after they had succeeded in defending their case.

“The lower court judge had done this on her own volition without giving an opportunity for parties to submit on cost,” he said.

“The only ground, as the lower court judge said, it is a public interest case. The law is clear and it was a trite position that costs ought to be awarded.”

Nantha Balan questioned if this was indeed a case of public interest just because both were MPs and a media statement was made in the lobby.

“I think that doesn’t make it a public interest case but the public may be interested in that matter,” he said, adding Khalid and KiniTV were entitled to cost because there was a lot of work involved as the suit was filed in February 2017 and the trial went on from 2019 to 2021.

In today’s proceedings, counsel S.N. Nair and K. Shanmuga, appeared for Khalid and KiniTV respectively, while Hasnal Rezua Merican, represented Tajuddin.

On February 22 last year, the High Court dismissed Tajuddin’s suit against Khalid, KiniTV and The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) without cost.

Tajuddin filed the suit on April 26, 2017, claiming that Khalid had allegedly uttered defamatory statements as well as used curse words, against him at two press conferences held by Khalid at the Parliament lobby on November 21 and 24, 2016.

He said Khalid’s first statement was published in NSTP’s newspaper, New Straits Times, with the title “Fury over deputy minister’s remark” on November 22, 2016, and the second statement by KiniTV on November 24, 2016.

He said both the statements were also available on YouTube, which could be accessed by the public.

Tajuddin also said the two statements, among others, meant that he was not fit to be an MP and had acted against the teachings and culture of Islam. – Bernama, October 19, 2023.