KUALA LUMPUR: Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali has failed to set aside a court order allowing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to initiate contempt proceedings against him over a defamation suit.
High Court judge John Louis O'Hara dismissed the application by Ibrahim and ordered him to pay RM5,000 in costs to Anwar.
Justice O'Hara made the ruling after hearing submissions by the parties, including the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Bar Council, which had been invited to give views over the application as "amicus curiae" (friend of the court), without being a party in the proceedings.
Justice O'Hara held that a prima facie test was made by Anwar to commence the committal proceedings against Ibrahim.
"I rule against the application and dismiss it," he added.
Anwar was granted leave on March 5 after he applied to cite Ibrahim and writer Zainuddin Salleh for contempt for allegedly scandalising his trial judge in his defamation case.
Speaking to reporters later, Anwar's lawyer R. Sivarasa said that if Ibrahim and Zainuddin decided not to give oral evidence in the contempt of court proceedings, they may apply to cross examine both.
Ibrahim argued that neither he nor Perkasa were responsible for the alleged posting of a defamatory article on a website on Jan 7.
Ibrahim contended that he had the highest respect for the judiciary, would never be party to this form of conduct and was fully aware that the article could be construed as an interference with the administration of justice and scandalising the judiciary.
Sivarasa and lawyer Steven Thiru, who acted for the Bar Council, argued that Ibrahim knew or ought to have known of the article and its contemptuous contents but failed to prevent its publication.
Ibrahim's lead counsel Rajindar Singh, however, argued that there was no evidence to show that his client had played any part in the publication of the article.
Rajindar questioned why Ibrahim was pick up for the committal proceedings when there were 30 office-bearers in Perkasa.
Justice O'Hara set Aug 26 for case management for Ibrahim and for Zainuddin to notify him whether they wished to give oral evidence in the committal proceedings.
Sivarasa was quoted saying that the article had make scurrilous and personal attacks on a High Court judge while a decision was pending to be delivered by the trial judge in a RM50mil defamation case filed by Anwar against Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd.
On Jan 21, Anwar won his defamation suit against Utusan Melayu over publication of two articles on his comments to BBC during an interview on homosexuality laws.
Justice V. T. Singham had ordered Utusan Melayu to pay RM45,000 in costs to Anwar.
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