1. ) CHER GUAN CHUN 2. ) CHER INTERNATIONAL SDN BHD v LIM CHAN HON

Case Significance

Illustrates the transfer of a defamation action from the High Court to the Sessions Court under Order 57 rule 1 of the Rules of Court 2012, reflecting the moderated trend in defamation damages and the direction that matters within the subordinate courts' limit be heard there.

This High Court decision at Shah Alam concerns an application to transfer a defamation action from the High Court to the Sessions Court under Order 57 rule 1 of the Rules of Court 2012. The first plaintiff was a businessman and a director and shareholder of the second plaintiff, a company in the tyre and scrap business. The defendant was a director and majority shareholder of another tyre company. The dispute had its roots in a commercial debt: after the defendant's company failed to pay for tyres purchased from the second plaintiff and was sued, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant had published a series of defamatory statements through voice messages sent to the plaintiffs' employees and through posts on Facebook pages and private groups. The defendant applied to have the proceedings transferred to the Sessions Court.

In considering the application, the court had regard to the current trend in the assessment of damages for defamation, which it found had shifted away from the earlier "mega-awards" towards more moderate and reasonable sums, damages being intended to compensate rather than to enrich. Where the likely quantum fell within the jurisdiction of the subordinate courts, transfer under Order 57 was appropriate. The court also referred to the Court of Appeal's observation that a High Court, at the case-management stage, should direct a defamation matter to be transferred to the subordinate courts where the quantum falls within their limit, and that abusing the High Court process by not doing so may attract costs consequences.

Satisfied that the case was suitable for transfer and that the anticipated award fell within the subordinate courts' monetary limit, the court allowed the application with costs fixed at RM5,000.00. The judgment illustrates the practice of transferring defamation actions to the Sessions Court in line with the moderated trend in defamation damages and the jurisdictional limits of the subordinate courts.