KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has fixed Nov 24 to hear a discharge application by lawyers representing comedian Harith Iskander in the lawsuit filed against him by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
Lawyer Mohamed Baharudeen Mohamed Ariff, who is acting for Rosmah, told reporters that the hearing was fixed for 2.15pm via Zoom during case management yesterday.
When contacted, Harith’s lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo confirmed the application.
“Yes, we are applying to discharge ourselves,” she said.
The case management before Justice Arziah Mohamed Apandi was attended by lawyers Nur-Diana Ezlyn Hashim, who appeared for Rosmah, while Sangeet and Harkiranjit Kaur appeared for Harith.
On June 9, Rosmah sued the comedian over his stand-up comedy which she claimed mocked and insulted her.
She said Harith performed a stand-up comedy show entitled Harith Iskander: The Outspoken Comedy Tour at the Swiss-Garden Hotel, Melaka, on Jan 17.
The wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed that during the performance, the defendant displayed images of scary mythological creatures in the Malaysian community, including toyol, pontianak and pocong and subsequently displayed the plaintiff’s image to the audience as part of the narrative in the joke.
The plaintiff contended that the defamatory statements were made with the intention to hurt the plaintiff’s reputation and good name and to insult her with body shaming.
She is seeking an unconditional apology from Harith and unspecified general, aggravated and exemplary damages and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.
In his statement of defence, Harith denied that his performance was malicious or defamatory to the plaintiff.
He said the two videos of his routine uploaded on TikTok and cited in the lawsuit were not the entirety of the comedy show.
Harith said the incomplete videos were uploaded on the platform by a third party without his consent or knowledge, which was against the house rules of the show.
