The decision underscores the necessity for responsible journalism, emphasizing that allegations must be substantiated with verified facts to avoid defamation, even in matters of public interest.

[1] In this judgment, the parties will be referred to as they were in the proceeding in the High Court.

[2] This case concerns the plaintiffs appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal on 18 November 2013 reversing the decision of the High Court which had, on 29 February 2012 allowed the plaintiffs claim for libel against the defendants, and awarded the plaintiff a global sum of RM1 million for compensatory, aggrieved and exemplary damages.

[3] The leave to appeal to this Court was granted on the following question:-

"Whether the defence of qualified privilege can be invoked by the 1st Respondent against any person who relied on information which truthfulness or accuracy is doubted and/or which is already known to the public."

[4] The background facts leading to the present appeal are these. Both the plaintiff and the 1st defendant are the former Chief Ministers of Sabah. The 2nd defendant is a political party. The suit which is the subject matter of this appeal was triggered by a speech delivered by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ("Tengku Razaleigh") at the Hongkod Koisan KDCA Penampang, Sabah on 2 April 2010. The speech was published in the Daily Express on 4 April 2010 with the caption "Invite saved my life: Razaleigh". The topic of the speech was "Minyak Sabah Untuk Siapa?". The relevant parts of the speech are as follows:-

"Apabila cakap hal minyak dan Sabah, tak dapat tiada saya mesti mengingat kembali peristiwa yang amat sedih yang berlaku di sini yang menimpa rakyat Sabah dan negeri Sabah terutama sekali. Saya ingat dalam bulan Jun tahun 76, satu kemalangan besar berlaku di Sabah. Umur saya panjang, orang kenalan saya yang saya sanjung tinggi umurnya pendek. Allahyarham Yang Amat Berhormat Tun Fuad Stephens dan anaknya sekali dengan pemimpin- pemimpin yang lain dari negeri Sabah dan juga pegawai-pegawai dari negeri Sabah dan dari kerajaan pusat bersekali dengan setiausaha sulit saya telah menjadi mangsa nahas apabila jatuhnya kapal terbang yang dinaiki mereka. Saya sendiri sudahpun menaiki pesawat berkenaan bersekali dengan Tun Rahman Yaakob dan bersama-sama dengan saya melawat Labuan dan juga Sabah ketika itu dan dengan Almarhum Tengku Arif Bendahara Pahang. Kita semua sudah "strapped" dah pakai tali pinggang kapal terbang. Saya duduk di belakang Allahyarham Tun Fuad Stephens, sebelah kanan saya Tun Rahman Yaakob, sebelah belakang saya Tengku Arif Bendahara Pahang. Tiba-tiba Datuk Harris yang pada masa itu menjadi Timbalan Ketua Menteri Sabah mengajak saya keluar dari kapal terbang, kerana dia kata elok kita ke Pulau Banggi melihat rancangan belaan sapi dari Australia di Pulau Banggi. Saya pun ajak Tun Rahman Yaakob dan Tengku Arif Bendahara bersama dengan saya turun kerana saya kata elok juga kita ikut Datuk Harris ke Pulau Banggi kerana saya nak tengok rancangan bela sapi, kita panggil lembu, di Pulau Banggi. Jadi kita pun ikut Datuk Harris ikut kapal terbang jenis yang sama Nomad, kita pergi ke Pulau Banggi."

[5] In this regard, it is common ground that the 1st defendant made two statements on 4 April 2010 and 9 April 2010 respectively ("the impugned statements") in the context of the revelation by Tengku Razaleigh that minutes before the Nomad aircraft was due to take off from the Labuan airport, and when he was already strapped to his seat, the plain