[1] This is an appeal by the appellant (the defendant in the High Court) against the decision of the High Court dated 22 April 2016 made after a full trial, which allowed the plaintiffs claim against the defendant and a nominal sum of RM50,000.00 for loss of reputation as a result of being blacklisted with costs of RM100,000.00.

[2] We heard this appeal on 29 January 2018 and on 21 February 2018 and reserved our decision. After perusing the Records of Appeal, the written submissions filed by the respective learned counsel and upon hearing learned counsel, we adjourned the matter for our consideration and decision.

[3] We now give our decision and the reasons for the same.

[4] For ease of reference in this judgment, the parties will be referred to as they were in the High Court.

Background Facts

[5] The relevant background facts of the case have been set out in detail by the learned trial judge and are as follows. By a process of tender the plaintiff was awarded by the defendant to carry out works for a project described as "Pembinaan Bangunan Tambahan Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontijen (IPK) Johor" ("the Project"). The contract sum for the Project is the sum of RM103,556,694.84. The plaintiff w