JUDGMENT

Mohd Arief Emran Arifin JC:

A. Introduction

[1] The plaintiff had retained the services of the defendant, an advocate, and solicitor, to institute a claim against Kimis a/l Arumugam Nadar and Makkal Osai Sdn Bhd for defamation.

[2] The defendant had filed the plaintiff's claim against the said defendants with the Writ of Summons No WA-23NCVC-43-10-2017 on 24 October 2017. The suit against Makkal Osai Sdn Bhd was subsequently withdrawn with the consent of the plaintiff and the claim proceeded solely against Kimis a/l Arumugam Nadar.

[3] The said suit was heard by way of a full trial and was dismissed by my learned brother, Justice Mohd Firuz bin Jaffril on 30 November 2018 with costs of RM25,000.

[4] My learned brother gave broad grounds, as seen in the written transcripts, for dismissing the said suit which is summarised as follows:

(i) That the plaintiff had failed to plead the original language of the said alleged defamatory words.

(ii) That the plaintiff had failed to produce an interpreter or translator that would be able to inform the court of the original words that were published in the article and uttered by Kimis a/l Arumugam.

(iii) Further, even if the said finding were i