JUDGMENT

Ravinthran Paramaguru JCA:

Introduction

[1] The appeal and cross-appeal originate from the trial of a counterclaim in a defamation suit in the High Court. The trial of the main claim was concluded much earlier on 4 January 2013. The counterclaim decision was delivered on 4 December 2017. Prior to the trial, parties agreed to be bound by the evidence adduced in the main claim trial. Due to the long interval between the main claim trial and the counterclaim trial, different High Court judges presided at the said trials. The judgment of the trial judge in the main trial is reported as Liu Thian Leong & Ors v. Jee Nyien Chong & Ors, [2014] 10 CLJ 511; [2013] MLJ 10 398. As we said earlier, the instant appeal is from the decision in the counterclaim. We shall refer to the judge who tried the counterclaim as the trial judge. Where necessary, we shall refer to the judge who tried the main claim as the main claim trial judge. As for the parties, the trial judge and counsel referred to the defendants in the main trial (Jee Nyen Chong, Voon Sam Ted and Chong Vui Kuet) as the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs in the main trial (Liu Thian Leong, Chong Jit Leong and Chang Hon Hiung) as the d