Muhyiddin Obtains Interim Court Injunction Against Puad Over Fb Post

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Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has obtained a restraining order against Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi over a Facebook post.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the Bersatu president’s application for an interim injunction as part of a defamation suit filed against Puad.
It was previously reported that Muhyiddin had issued a letter of demand against Puad in relation to the latter’s Facebook post alleging double standards in Covid-19 procedures. The Facebook post was uploaded on Feb 9.
The premier’s lawyer Rosli Dahlan told Malaysiakini that judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril granted the plaintiff’s injunction application to prevent Puad from publishing, posting, sharing, republishing, reposting and/or resharing the Facebook post.
The lawyer explained that the main defamation suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court earlier today.
“The suit has been filed and the injunction granted (by Firuz),” Rosli said, adding that the order was granted following a hearing of the injunction application this afternoon.
The lawyer explained that the injunction order against Puad will be effective today until March 12, when the court would hear Muhyiddin’s inter-partes injunction application.
An inter-partes hearing is when both plaintiff and defendant submit over whether the court should grant further injunction order in relation to the Facebook post.
Today’s hearing involved an ex-parte injunction application when only Muhyiddin’s legal team were present to submit before the judge.
Rosli added that March 12 is also set for case management of the main legal action.
According to a copy of the notice of application for the injunction sighted by Malaysiakini, Muhyiddin claimed that there is an urgency for the court to grant the order against Puad.
The plaintiff claimed that the impugned Facebook post had received a wide readership and could be accessed by internet users worldwide.
“The damage to the plaintiff’s reputation that is suffered pending disposal of this suit, cannot be adequately compensated by damages even if the suit is eventually decided in the plaintiff’s favour."
According to a copy of the main defamation suit, Muhyiddin is seeking general, exemplary, and aggravated damages from Puad.
The plaintiff is seeking an injunction to restrain Puad from further publishing or sharing the post.
Muhyiddin is seeking a court order for Puad to publish an unequivocal public apology on the latter’s official Facebook page, as well as for the defendant to ensure the apology is carried by news portals and social media that had published the impugned post.

The premier also seeks costs and any further relief deemed fit by the court. - Mkini

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