Actress Zahida Rafik fails to strike out defamation suit

KUALA LUMPUR: Actress Zahida Rafik failed to strike out a defamation suit against her filed by her former personal driver for allegedly implying he was a thief.

High Court Judge Hue Siew Kheng ruled that it was not a proper case to be summarily dismissed.

Justice Hue also rejected an application by Zahida to stay the court ruling.

She ordered Zahida to pay RM3,500 in costs after meeting the parties in chambers.

In his suit filed on Nov 27 last year, Noor Azman Azemi, 40, said the actress had allegedly accused him of absconding with money he was ordered to deposit into her bank account.

Speaking to reporters here, Noor Azman's lead counsel Latheefa Koya said that the judge held that it was not a "plain and obvious" case to allow a striking out application by the actress.

Latheefa said the court had set two days from Oct 20 for trial. Lawyer Jeffrey John acted for the actress.

In his suit, Noor Azman said the actress had defamed him in a Malay tabloid over the loss of RM200,000.

He claimed that in March 2012, Zahida had offered, with bad intention, a RM5,000 reward to anyone who managed to find him.

He said Zahida had wrongfully given defamatory statements in an article published in the tabloid on March 3.

Noor Azman said Zahida’s statements portrayed him as untrustworthy, a thief and a criminal.

As a result, he claimed to have suffered damage to his reputation, jeopardising his chances of finding a job.

He said he was remanded by the police for four days after Zahida, 39, lodged a report against him over the loss.

In addition to damages, Noor Azman is seeking an injunction to prevent Zahida or her agents from repeating the defamatory statements.