KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has allowed an application by two academics to serve a summons on actress Rita Rudaini by way of substituted service.
The summons relates to a defamation lawsuit over statements made by Rita against the two academics, Muafakat MRSM Sungai Besar president Prof Dr Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor and its vice-president Dr Saidah Haris @ Harith, on social media.
Lawyer Datuk Adnan Seman, who represents both plaintiffs, told the media that the defamation suit against Rita, whose full name is Rita Rudaini Mohammad @ Mokhtar, could not be served at her last known address.
"The plaintiffs then attempted to serve the court documents on the defendant (Rita) via the WhatsApp application, but no appearance was entered in court.
"The court subsequently allowed the application for substituted service to enable the summons to be served through alternative means.
"The court granted a period of one month for the plaintiffs to carry out the substituted service," he said when contacted on Tuesday (Jan 27).
The next case management has been fixed for Feb 26.
According to the writ and statement of claim filed on Dec 6, Roslan and Saidah alleged that Rita, named as the sole defendant, had issued defamatory statements on her social media accounts, including WhatsApp status updates, between June and September.
Among other things, the defamatory statements portrayed both plaintiffs as "rude", "individuals who do not appreciate the parents of MRSM Sungai Besar students", and "liars".
The actress allegedly made statements that gave impression that under the management of Roslan and Saidah, students at the school were no longer excellent and that the institution had deteriorated.
Roslan and Saidah claimed that the statements had caused public doubt towards both plaintiffs and had consequently damaged their reputations.
The plaintiffs further stated that Rita had never contacted them to seek any clarification or verification before making the statements.
The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction order against the defendant, her employees, or family members from continuing to issue defamatory statements in any manner, whether orally, online, or in print.
The plaintiffs also seek an order requiring Rita, her employees, or family members to remove the defamatory statements.
Roslan and Saidah further seek an order for the actress to issue an apology in both video and written form, with the apology to be published for three months on all of the defendant’s social media accounts.
Also sought are general, aggravated and exemplary damages separately for each plaintiff, as well as costs and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
