Ahmad Fairuz JCA:

On 30 August 1999, the learned High Court judge dismissed the appellant's oral application to disqualify himself from hearing and determining the suit No. S2-23-42-96 (hereinafter referred to as "the suit"). The appellant now appeals against that decision.

The respondents filed the suit against the appellant for damages premised upon slander and libel arising from an article entitled "Malaysian Justice on Trial"published in the November issue of the International Commercial Litigation magazine. The suit had undergone various stages of case management by the learned judge. On 13 August 1999, the suit was at its last stage of case management and was fixed for hearing on 1 September 1999 and 6 September 1999 to 10 September 1999. It was at this stage that the appellant orally applied for the trial judge to recuse himself from hearing and determining the suit.

Pertaining to the abovementioned article, there were also filed five other defamation suits (hereinafter referred to as "the five suits"). The parties to the five suits reached an amicable settlement and on 21 October 1998 a statement in open court was read out, after which the learned judge, inter alia