PKA fails to strike out Kuala Dimensi’s defamation suit

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — The High Court here today dismissed an application by Port Klang Authority (PKA) to set aside a defamation suit filed by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) over the publication of a controversial auditing report of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwCAS) Advisory Services Sdn Bhd, in relation to the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (PKFZ) issue.

Justice Datin Zabariah Mohd Yusof ruled that all the issues raised in the main suit required a proper trial.
After hearing submissions from both parties in her chambers for about two hours, she dismissed PKA's application with RM15,000 costs and ordered the matter to go for a full trial.She set Nov 22 for the case management before a High Court deputy registrar.KDSB counsel N. Nahendran told reporters that the court was not satisfied with the defendant's submission that the disclosure of the report was not defamatory or was of qualified privillege and there was no malice in their action.

KDSB filed the suit on July 1, last year, claiming the report contained various allegations which were highly damaging to its reputation and trade.In the suit, KDSB did not state the actual amount of compensation sought from PKA.In the statement of claim, KDSB stated the audited report of PwCAS, among others, had implied that the company allegedly had overcharged on the works it carried out at PKFZ and had failed to be careful in carrying out its responsibility, as expected of the firm.

Source : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pka-fails-to-strike-out-kuala-dimensis-defamation-suit/