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2021 MarsdenLR 2615
COURT OF APPEAL PUTRAJAYA
SARASWATHY KANDASAMI – Appellant
Versus
DATUK SARAVANAN MURUGAN & ANOTHER APPEAL – Respondent
[Civil Appeal Nos: W-02(IM)(NCVC)-2341-11-2018 & W-02(IM)(NCVC)-2369-11-2018]
The contempt finding was sustained as the appellants breached an earlier Consent Judgment by repeating defamatory statements, leading to a fine for contempt of court.
Headnote:(A) Contempt of Court – Breach of Consent Judgment – Appellants found in contempt of court for repeating defamatory statements during a press conference despite a previous Consent Judgment prohibiting such actions – A fine of RM10,000.00 was imposed on each appellant. (Paras 3, 19, 62, 72)
(B) Appeal – Standard of review for contempt judgments – Appellate courts defer to the original court's findings unless they are shown to be plainly wrong or lacking sufficient evidence. (Paras 20, 21)
(C) Professional Responsibility – Duty of solicitors to adhere to court orders and avoid actions that undermine the integrity of court proceedings. (Paras 67, 68)
JUDGMENT
Introduction
[1] There are two appeals before this court:
(i) Appeal No W-02(IM)(NCVC)-2341-11-2018; and
(ii) Appeal No W-02(IM)(NCVC)-2369-11-2018.
[2] Both appeals, Appeal No: W-02(IM)(NCVC)-2341-11-2018 ("Appeal 2341") and Appeal No: W-02(IM)(NCVC)-2369-11-2018 ("Appeal 2369") are against the committal order made by the learned High court Judge on 14 November 2018. All appellants in both appeals have been found to be in contempt of court and were fined RM10,000.00 each.
[3] Having considered the Appeal Records and the submissions of all parties, this court had dismissed both appeals with costs.
The Salient Facts
[4] The appellant in Appeal No: 2341, Saraswathy Kandasami ("Saraswathy") is an advocate and solicitor of the High court of Malaya, practising under the name and style of Messrs S Kandasami & Co at No 20A-1, First Floor, Jalan Ipoh Kecil off Jalan Ipoh, 50350 Kuala Lumpur.
[5] The 1st appellant ("Sankaran") in Appeal No 2369 is an individual having an address at 38, Jalan Cecawi 6/21, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
[6] The 2nd and the 3rd appellants are the directors of the 4th appellant, a company registered in Malaysia and the publisher of the local Tamil newspaper called "Tamil Malar" ("the Tamil Malar").
[7] The respondent in both appeals is a senior member of the political party, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), was a Member of Parliament for the Tapah constituency in the State of Perak and a former Deputy Minister of the Youth and Sports Ministry.
[8] By way of the Kuala Lumpur High court Writ Summons No: 23 NCVC- 65-08-2015 dated 26 August 20159 ("the Defamation Suit"), the respondent commenced an action against Sankaran a/l Nagappen, City Team Media Sdn Bhd ("City Team Media") and Twinstar Synergy Sdn Bnd. City Team Media is the publisher of the daily Tamil newspaper, Tamil Malar, whilst Twinstar Synergy Sdn Bhd is the printer of Tamil Malar newspaper.
[9] The respondent contended that Sankaran a/l Nagappen uttered defamatory words against him that was published by the City Team Media in the newspaper Tamil Malar. The Statement of Claim, inter alia, reads as follows (the "Impugned Statements"):
"PENERBITAN PADA 21 June 2015
5. Pada akhir bulan Julai 2015, defendan pertama telah secara niat jahat, salah, cuai dan atau melulu tanpa mengendahkan kebenaran dan ketepatan telah mengeluarkan dan menerbitkan kata-kata tidak benar langsung, tidak tepat dan palsu berkenaan plaintif dan mengenai beliau dalam pejabat dan pekerjaannya sebagai Timbalan Menteri Kementerian Belia dan Sukan di mana defendan-defendan lain telah menyebabkan penerbitan dan percetakan kata-kata ini di suratkhabar tersebut pada 22 Julai 2015 dan 23 Julai 2015 dengan mengandungi perkataan-perkataan berikut:
...
6. Maksud sebenar perkataan-perkataan tersebut di penerbitan-penerbitan tersebut yang di terjemahkan dalam Bahasa Inggeris seperti berikut:
6.1 PENERBITAN PADA 22 July 2015
He Made Me A Bankrupt !
He Became Deputy Minister...?
Sanggaran Nagappan grumbles
Kuala Lumpur, July 22 - Dato Saravanan made him a co-debtor for a loan, failed to make prompt payments, tell lies and finally made him an insolvent, says MIC headquarters a formal staff Sanggaran Nagappan, who served there for a long period. In a police report against Dato M Saravanan, he said that the Deputy Minister in the Youth and Sports Ministry who receives grants for the betterment of youths and give talks about the well-being of community. Dato Saravanan, made him codebtor, which later the latter defaulted and caused him to be tried in court which made him to end up pauper.
He made Me A Bankrupt
20 March 2002, Dato Saravanan appointed me as a Director of the company named RMW I was a director of that company until 2 November 2004. During that period, through our RMW Berhad a loan of RM7 million was obtained from Maybank Berhad. As a director I've been asked to sign the loan agreement and guarantee letter. As when I was the Director during that tim
