PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court on Wednesday (Nov 6) dismissed a businesswoman's application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision, which overturned a High Court order requiring CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd (CTOS) to pay her RM200,000 for an inaccurate credit rating.
The leave application by resort director Suriati Mohd Yusof, 43, was rejected by a three-judge panel led by Court of Appeal President Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court Judges Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
"We unanimously, in our view, agree that all the proposed questions of law do not fulfil the threshold requirement under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. Thus, we dismiss the application with Suriati to pay the cost of RM30,000," said Justice Abang Iskandar during the online proceedings.
Suriati’s lawyer, Nizam Basir, had earlier requested the court to determine five questions of law, asserting that they related to whether a customer has a cause of action against a credit reporting agency if a credit score is proven inaccurate or misleading.
Lawyer Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, representing CTOS, objected, arguing that the questions posed by Nizam were not novel.
To obtain leave for a Federal Court appeal, an applicant must demonstrate that the proposed appeal raises novel legal or constitutional questions of public importance that have not been previously addressed and require further arguments.
In March, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered CTOS to pay RM200,000 to the woman for an inaccurate credit rating, ruling that CTOS had breached the duty of care owed to Suriati and exceeded its registered functions.
In July, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s decision, allowing CTOS's appeal and ruling that there was no defamation, negligence, or breach of statutory duty by the credit-reporting agency. The court also deemed the High Court's decision awarding damages to Suriati as erroneous.
Suriati, formerly the director and shareholder of Keranji Beach Resort Sdn Bhd in Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, sued CTOS for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty concerning the misrepresentation of her credit rating.
This alleged misrepresentation resulted in personal and business setbacks and tarnished her reputation.
In May 2019, Suriati discovered that her car loan application had been rejected due to a negative report from CTOS. Upon investigation, she found that CTOS had inaccurately recorded her data, leading to her unfavourable credit rating. – Bernama
