1. ) PERBADANAN PENGURUSAN VISTA KIARA 2. ) KARNIK NIRAJ SHRIKANT 3. ) MAK SUI HOON 4. ) ADRIAN FITZGERALD GOVES 5. ) CHIA E MAN 6. ) ANUJ KAPOOR 7. ) VIJAY KANTIBHAI v Tan Ye Wai

Case Significance

Upholds a Sessions Court libel award against a condominium management corporation and its committee members for a defamatory email sent to all residents through the body's official channel, the High Court declining to disturb an award it regarded as, if anything, on the low side.

This High Court (Kuala Lumpur) decision is a civil appeal in a defamation action arising from an email circulated within a condominium community. In the Sessions Court, after a full trial, the trial judge had allowed the plaintiff's claim for libel against the defendants and ordered the defendants to pay damages; the defendants appealed to the High Court. The first defendant was the management body of the condominium — a management corporation — and the other defendants were committee members of that body. The plaintiff, besides being a resident, was a member of a financial task force appointed by the first defendant.

The defamatory statement was contained in an email entitled "IMPORTANT - A MUST READ FOR OWNERS OF PPVK", published using the official email of the first defendant and sent to all residents of the condominium. The email denoted the plaintiff as the cause of disharmony and chaos among the residents, labelled her as carrying out activities serving her own interest, and further suggested that she was criminally inclined. In their defence the defendants contended that it was their statutory duty to rectify and correct any issues that might be detrimental to the peaceful enjoyment of the condominium by all residents.

At first instance the Sessions Judge had allowed general damages of RM50,000 and exemplary damages of RM7,000, taking into account the gravity of the allegations, their effect on the plaintiff's reputation, and the defendants' lack of remorse. On appeal the High Court, although of the view that the damages awarded were on the lower side given the gravity of the harm to the plaintiff's reputation, nevertheless considered it fit not to disturb the Sessions Judge's finding on the award. In the result the court dismissed the defendants' appeal with costs of RM5,000. The judgment illustrates the treatment of defamatory statements published through the official channels of a management corporation and the appellate court's reluctance to disturb a damages award that was, if anything, conservative.