PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has ordered former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to pay RM250,000 in damages to Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh for defamation over his remarks made in a forum six years ago.
Justice Azimah Omar, now a Federal Court judge, said that the learned judicial commissioner had erred in her decision when she dismissed Yeoh's lawsuit.
In the unanimous decision, Justice Azimah, who chaired a three-judge bench, said the judicial commissioner had incorrectly allowed Musa's defence of justification, fair comment and qualified privilege in the statements that Yeoh claimed to be defamatory.
The panel rejected Musa's argument that he needed freedom as IGP at the time to speak on matters of national or religious importance.
Justice Azimah said his position did not grant carte blanche to make statements without due care, responsibility or accountability.
"While the defendant may have held a position of influence, it is unacceptable and unprecedented in law to allow individuals with such power to disseminate untruths recklessly.
"In conclusion, the defendant failed to establish a defence of fair comment or qualified privilege and the defendant's reliance on bad faith is rejected. Malaysian law emphasises that all public statements, regardless of the speaker's status or authority, must be made responsibly and with accountability.
"We allow the appeal and hereby order the decision to be reversed and set aside," Justice Azimah said here on Tuesday (Jan 13).
The judge, who took more than an hour to read the decision, said having considered the nature of the defamatory statements and its injurious impact on Yeoh's personal and professional reputation, the court found it fitting to award a global sum as damages.
"The defamatory imputations were serious, public and highly damaging. The defendant's actions demonstrated negligence and disregard for the plaintiff's rights.
"Taking into account all factors including defamation, malicious intent and the public impact of the statements, we hereby award the plaintiff a global sum of RM250,000 in damages. Additionally, we award RM60,000 in costs in favour of the plaintiff," Justice Azimah said.
Other judges on the panel were Court of Appeal judges Justices Dr Choo Kah Sing and Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman.
At a press conference later, Yeoh said that she was grateful for the court's decision.
"For six years, I had to live with the lies and defamation on social media that tarnished my name and confused people due to the remarks by a former IGP," Yeoh said.
Musa was absent from the proceedings.
Yeoh filed the suit against Musa in 2020 over statements he made during a forum at Universiti Teknologi Mara on Jan 30 that year.
On Dec 23, 2024, the High Court dismissed her suit after finding that she had failed to establish that Musa's statements were defamatory.
Yeoh later filed an appeal over the High Court's decision.
