KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corporation founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan has been granted an inter-parte injunction against Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.
The injunction was granted by the Shah Alam High Court today which bars Sanusi from issuing defamatory statements against Tan and Berjaya Land Berhad (BLB) pending the disposal of the former's defamation suit.
This was confirmed by Tan's lawyer Chuar Kia Lin and Sanusi's lawyer Mohd Faizi Che Abu.
Chuar said the injunction was granted by High Court Judicial Commissioner Dr Choong Yeow Choy.
Mohd Faizi said the court had not set trial dates for the suit.
This was following an ex-parte injunction given by Judicial Commissioner Dr Choong on Aug 17 to stop Sanusi from making and repeating alleged defamatory statements against Tan or BLB.
On Aug 10, Tan and BLB filed a defamation suit against Sanusi over the Selangor Maritime Gate (SMG) project.
Tan had named Sanusi, who is Kedah's Jeneri state assemblyman and Islamist Pas election director, as the sole defendant.
During the Jelajah Mega PN Best / PN Best Sayangi Kedah Sejahtera mega tour on Aug 2, Sanusi had allegedly delivered a speech that was deemed politically motivated and slanderous.
Sanusi was alleged to have made false and baseless allegations against Tan and BLB, implicating them in the SMG project.
Tan and BLB said the defamatory statements would harm and result in financial losses for 67,367 shareholders of Berjaya Corporation Bhd and 7,053 shareholders of BLB.
It also contended that the impugned statements had the potential to damage their reputation in the business world, both domestically and internationally.
Tan had also issued a letter of demand to Sanusi which demanded a public apology and RM200 million in compensation.