Ex-Padang Serai MP fails to set aside damages in defamation suit

PUTRAJAYA: Former Padang Serai member of parliament N. Gobalakrishnan has failed in his bid to set aside the RM150,000 in damages awarded by the High Court to a couple who sued him for defamation.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal comprising Justices Datuk Lee Swee Seng, Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli dismissed Gobalakrishnan’s appeal on Thursday (May 2).

The couple’s lawyer Rueben Mathiavaranam, who confirmed the court’s decision, said Gobalakrishnan was also ordered to pay RM15,000 in costs to S.Selvakumar, a Malaysia Airlines pilot, and his wife R. Indrani, the former treasurer of PKR Sungai Siput branch.

He said Justice Lee, who delivered the court’s decision, held that Gobalakrishnan had clearly defamed Indrani and her husband by way of three impugned publications.

He elaborated further, noting that Justice Lee had said if Gobalakrishnan contested the publications, he ought to have contacted the telecommunication companies to demonstrate that the phone number used to transmit the defamatory communication did not originate from his phone.

According to Rueben, Justice Lee had said this would have rebutted the presumption of publication under Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950.

On Feb 23, 2023, the High Court allowed the couple’s defamation suit against Gobalakrishnan and ordered him to pay them RM150,000 in damages.