GROUNDS OF JUDGMENT

1. Plaintiff is suing First Defendant (D1) and Second Defendant (D2) for defamation. Plaintiff is a developer and had developed Menara Sentosa in Alor Setar. D1 purchased a shop lot in Menara Sentosa in 1992 and had lodged a police report against Plaintiff on 19-7-2005 (report no. 01177/2005, P15). D2 is the printer, publisher and owner of the Malay newspaper Berita Harian and on 21-7-2005 printed and published in the northern edition of the paper a newspaper report entitled "Pemaju didakwa gadaikan bangunan tanpa kebenaran" (P3). The report was written by its journalist Faiza bt Zainudin. Both these formed the basis of the alleged defamatory statements and are set out in paragraph 6 (against D1) and paragraph 9 (against D2) of the Statement of Claim.

2. The police report is as follows:-

"SAYA BERSAMA PEMILIK PEMILIK KEDAI MENARA SENTOSA ALOR STAR KEDAH TIDAK PUAS HATI DAN INGIN MEMBUAT LAPORAN KERANA PEMAJU BINAAN SENTOSA SDN BHD TELAH GAGAL MENGELUARKAN GERAN INDIVIDUAL KEPADA KAMI SETELAH 10 TAHUN KAMI BELI KEDAI TERSEBUT DAN JUGA TIDAK BERPUAS HATI APABILA MENDAPAT TAHU BAHAWA GERAN BERNOMBOR GRN 3281, LOT 47 SEKSYEN 21 BANDAR ALOR STAR DAERAH KOTA SETAR