Farhash fails in second attempt to silence

The Court of Appeal today denied an application by Farhash Wafa Salvador to prevent MalaysiaNow from publishing reports related to a revelation that a mining exploration licence had been approved for a company owned by the former PKR leader turned multi-millionaire businessman.

Farhash and businessman Aminudin Mustapha, together with their company Bumi Suria Sdn Bhd, are seeking to overturn the High Court's decision last month, which dismissed their application for an interim injunction pending their defamation suit against the news portal.

A three-judge panel comprising justices Hashim Hamzah, Azizul Azmi Adnan and Ong Chee Kwan held that since the defendant had relied on the defences of justification, fair comment, and qualified privilege, the principle established in a 1987 case involving The New Straits Times Press and AirAsia Bhd applies. The court stated that it did not intend to depart from that precedent.

Today's decision is seen as another minor victory for MalaysiaNow, which is facing a RM10 million suit from Farhash and his business partner.

On Sept 4, High Court judge Noor Hayati Mat ordered the plaintiffs to pay MalaysiaNow RM5,000 in costs after dismissing a similar application by the plaintiffs to restrain the portal from publishing articles related to its July reports.

The reports cited documents and meeting minutes showing that Bumi Suria's application for a mining exploration licence was approved by Sabah Minerals Management (SMM) during a board meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hajiji Noor on May 21 last year.

The reports further stated that the decision came just two weeks after Farhash and Aminudin took control of Bumi Suria.

SMM, the state mineral licensing agency chaired by Hajiji himself, is currently at the centre of an explosive corruption scandal involving senior government politicians after businessman Albert Tei released a series of video recordings showing Sabah state assemblymen discussing bribes ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of ringgit.

MalaysiaNow was represented by lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Amanda Sonia Mathew, while the plaintiffs were represented by Rajan Navaratnam, Sheena Stephanie Sebastian and Ezryl Azlyzan Ahmad Damanhuri.