Court of Appeal Rules Against Guan Eng

A three-man bench chaired by Datuk Rohana Yusuf allowed the appeals by Perkasa and two mainstream media (appellants) over Lim Guan Engs’s suit in relation to a Perkasa statement that he claimed implied that he was a “Singapore agent”.

Justice Rohana said the panel made the ruling as it was bound by its earlier decision on the case of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd vs Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, that public officials could not sue the media for defamation in their official capacity.

She said the court had accepted the principles decided of an English law case, Derbyshire County Council v The Times Newspapers Ltd & Others (1993), which stated that local authorities could not institute libel action in their official capacity.

“On the issue of principle of law in our earlier decision (Utusan vs Adnan), having considered the appeals before us, we hold that the case of Utusan vs Adnan applies to this case,” said Justice Rohana, who presided over the appeal with Justices Tan Sri Idrus Harun and Datuk Mary Lim.

The panel made the ruling after allowing the preliminary objections raised by the appellants that the case was similar to the Utusan vs Adnan case.