Khairy wins appeal to amend statement of defence in Anwar's defamation suit

A Court of Appeal three-man bench chaired by Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam allowed Khairy's appeal to reverse a High Court dismissal of his application to make amendments to his defence statement.

Zakaria said after hearing submissions from Khairy's counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Anwar's lawyer, J. Leela, the court was inclined to agree with Shafee's submissions.

The panel which also comprised justices Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli and Datuk Zamani A. Rahim ordered Anwar to pay RM15,000 in legal costs to Khairy for court proceedings at the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Zakaria ordered Khairy to file his amended statement of defence within 14 days.

He also allowed Shafee's application for the trial of the defamation suit to be heard before another High Court judge.

Zakaria, however, did not grant an oral application made by Leela for a stay for the trial of the matter which was scheduled to begin on March 7, pending filing of their leave to appeal application to the Federal Court but told her to make the stay application at the High Court.

The matter is scheduled to come up for case management at the High Court next week.

Shafee told the court that he would not object to Leela's application to be made at the High Court for a stay of the trial.

Khairy was allowed to amend his defence statement to include the Court of Appeal and Federal Court judgments relating to Anwar's conviction for sodomising his personal assistant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

He also applied for amendment of his defence to include a lesser defamatory meaning of the impunged statement allegedly uttered by Khairy against Anwar.

On March 7, 2008, Anwar filed a civil suit against Khairy, seeking damages amounting to RM100 million and alleging that Khairy, then Umno Youth vice-chief, had slandered him in a speech at Lembah Pantai on Feb 20, 2008.