JUDGMENT

Azmi (Malaya) CJ:

I have had the advantage of reading the judgment of my brother Mr. Justice Raja Azlan Shah and agree with him that the appeals should be allowed with costs here and in the Court below. The order of the Court below and the subpoena issued against the appellant be set aside.

The deposit made by the two appellants be paid back to them.

Raja Azlan Shah J.: An action for slander had been commenced by Tun Tan Siew Sin, Minister of Finance, against the respondent Inche Hasnul bin Abdul Hadi in Malacca High Court Civil Suit No. 38 of 1964. It arose out of a statement alleged to have been made by the respondent of and concerning the plaintiff at an election rally held at Pekan Ayer Molek, Malacca, on 5 April 1964 and published in the Utusan Melayu of 7 April 1964. The same slander was repeated by the respondent at another election rally held at Bertam Ulu Village, Malacca, on the evening of 7 April 1964. In view of the pending trial it is wise to say as little as possible about the case. Assuming that the defamatory statements were made by the respondent, there is established a series of publications each of which constitutes a separate tort. First, there is the