JUDGMENT

Azizan Md Arshad J:

Introduction

[1] The Respondent (Plaintiff) has filed a claim for damages against the Appellant (Defendant) alleging that the defendant had circulated defamatory statements against him via WhatsApp messages in a WhatsApp group known as Surin JMC Feedback Chat. The WhatsApp messages allegedly contained words defamatory against the respondent/plaintiff.

[2] The Court after hearing the Appeal on 29 September 2025, dismissed the appellant's appeal and upheld the decision on liability decided by the Learned Sessions Court Judge and set aside part of the quantum. The Appellant hereinafter filed an appeal against the finding on liability and quantum. In this Grounds of Judgment (GOJ), parties are referred to as they were in the Sessions Court .

Issues

[3] The issues to be decided by the Court are:

(a) Whether the Disputed Statements were posted or sent by the Defendant himself in the WhatsApp group?

(b) Whether the Disputed Statements referred to the Plaintiff?

(c) Whether the Disputed Statements were defamatory of the Plaintiff?

(d) Whether the Disputed Statements circulated by the defendant were motivated by bad faith?

(e) Whether the Defendant was entitled to r