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PETALING JAYA: The MCA is concerned about the Federal Court ruling that political parties cannot sue a person for defamation, as it may have far-reaching implications for similar cases in the future.
Describing it as a “landmark trial”, the head of the party’s legal affairs office, Datuk Tay Puay Chuan (Photo) said that now any individual can randomly launch unsubstantiated accusations against any political party without risking being accused of defamation.
“This scenario will therefore present a great challenge for all political parties in the future, including the Kepong MP’s own party,” he said, referring to Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng of the DAP.
Since a political party cannot now sue an individual for defamation, Tay said, the public must carefully filter all individual allegations against a political party and not be misled by unsubstantiated statements.
The Federal Court had on Thursday (March 4) allowed an appeal by Lim to remove a defamation lawsuit filed by MCA in 2017.
The seven-member bank ruled that political parties cannot sue a person for defamation.
Tay noted that MCA respects the higher court’s decision.
However, he said it should be noted that Lim won on a technicality and not on the merits of the case.
“You must provide evidence to support your allegations against MCA.
“Whoever claims should be able to prove,” he said, adding that MCA maintains its position that Lim’s allegations at the time were completely false and slanderous.
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