SHAH ALAM: The High Court today dismissed a defamation suit filed by a lawyer, Kamal Hisham Jaafar against deputy inspector-general of police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
The High Court Judge Tee Geok Hock dismissed Kamal's suit, highlighting that Ayob had not mentioned Kamal's name throughout the live-streamed press conference on Facebook.
However, Tee ordered Kamal to pay RM20,000 in costs, reported portal FMT.
The suit was initiated in 2021 after Ayob, the former Johor police chief, disclosed the arrest of a lawyer accused of defrauding an advertising company of RM185,062 in a press conference.
During the press conference, Ayob allegedly asserted that the lawyer had connections with the Johor royal family and had a previous conviction for money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT).
Kamal claimed Ayob wanted to taint his reputation and had distorted the details of Kamal's criminal cases during the press conference.
"The defendant (Ayob) did not say anything that could lead a listener to make any reasonable inference that the 'lawyer suspect' was the same lawyer who attracted much publicity in the newspapers a few years before the date of the press conference," he said.
In 2018, he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge under the Companies Act and was fined RM30,000. The other 16 charges were considered, and no conviction was recorded.
Tee said Ayob had proven, on a balance of probabilities, that Kamal had admitted to committing CBT and money laundering offences in the past.
He added that the absence of a formal court record of conviction did not significantly harm Kamal's reputation.
"To a reasonable man, in the context of defamation, there is no real difference between a recorded conviction of an accused person and an admission made in court by the accused person that he had committed the offence.
"In both situations, the reasonable man's understanding is that the accused person was guilty of the offence."
The judge found no malice by Ayob to harm Kamal's reputation, based on Ayob's tone and facial expression during the press conference.
"From my observation, this court finds that the defendant merely read the press statement as prepared by one ACP Siva in an official and professional manner," he said, referring to the investigating officer.
"There was not the slightest evidence or indication to suggest there was any malice at all and there was no intentional twisting of any information at all."
The judge said Ayob, as the state police chief, had a duty to inform the public about avoiding similar scams, and there was no intention on Ayob's part to shame Kamal's character, image and career.