Kepong member of Parliament (MP) Lim Lip Eng (The Edge filepix by Low Yen Yeing)

PUTRAJAYA (May 23): Kepong member of Parliament (MP) Lim Lip Eng has filed an application in the Court of Appeal for a stay of a court ruling for him to pay RM2 million in damages in a defamation suit filed by MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder Datuk Seri Jessy Lai Cha Suang.

His lawyer, Guok Ngek Seong, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed that the notice of motion seeking a stay order was filed on Monday (May 22), together with a certificate of urgency.

In the application, Lim wants the court to stay a High Court’s decision, made on March 16, in ordering him to pay RM2 million in damages pending the disposal of his appeal in the Court of Appeal.

He is also seeking an interim stay of the High Court’s decision, pending the disposal of the stay application.

On March 16 this year, the High Court ordered Lim to pay RM2 million to the e-commerce company and Lai, after allowing their defamation suit. Lim subsequently filed an appeal on the same day.

Guok said the case management is fixed for Wednesday (May 24) before a Court of Appeal registrar.

On Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Lim’s application for a stay of the High Court’s decision, prompting him to file the stay application in the Court of Appeal.

In the suit filed in June 2019, Lai said Lim had claimed that she was running an illegal business and had cheated Chinese investors.

She said the MP’s statements, published in the English and Chinese media, had implied that she was a dishonest person.

She said Lim had made the statements in May 2017 and November 2018, when he took a group of individuals, purportedly MonSpace’s investors, to her office and subsequently lodged police reports against her.

Lai claimed that Lim’s statements had pressured the authorities, including the police, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, to take action against her.

In the High Court’s decision, judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir said the court found that MonSpace and Lai have proven their claims against Lim for defamation, and that Lim’s statements also tarnished their image and reputation.