KUALA LUMPUR: The mediation process to resolve the amount of damages to be paid by textile supplier company D'Haja (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to celebrity couple Awal Ashaari and his wife Scha Al-Yahya has been set on Jan 17 next year at the High Court here.

On Sept 8, 2020, the High Court proposed that the parties involved discuss to settle the amount of damages amicably through mediation without having to go through an appeal process.

D'Haja filed an appeal to set aside the decision by the Sessions Court here, which ordered the company to pay RM345,305 in damages to Awal, whose real name is Ahmad Awaluddin Ashaari and Scha, Sharifah Nor Azean Syed Mahadzir.

The Sessions Court made the ruling after allowing the suit filed by the couple against D'Haja over an alleged breach of contract with regard to the exclusive rights to distribute the 'Bleu' and 'Maroon' branded perfumes.

Lawyer Muzzammil Merican Hasnal Rezua Merican, who represented D'Haja, said the mediation process would take place before Judge Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril.

"If both parties fail to reach a settlement, the case management will be on Jan 19, 2022 and on that date the court will set another date for the appeal hearing to set aside the Sessions Court's decision," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Mediation is a way of resolving a dispute without going to court.

D'Haja had on April 3, 2019 filed an appeal on the grounds that the Sessions Court had erred in allowing the celebrity couple's suit on March 27, 2019.

The Sessions Court had also allowed a counterclaim filed by D'Haja and ordered Awal and Scha to pay RM55,000 after finding that the couple had breached the agreement by selling the perfume themselves to Brunei.

In the suit filed on April 30, 2018, Awal and Scha claimed that they had entered into a contract with D'Haja for the exclusive distribution of Bleu and Maroon perfumes on Oct 11, 2016, for two years.

However, they claimed that D'Haja failed to fulfill its responsibilities in accordance with the basic terms of the agreement, apart from failing to return 3,215 bottles of perfume which were allegedly spoiled as well as failing to provide records of sales transactions and refusing to pay for the losses.

-- BERNAMA