KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): Sungai Besar Division Umno chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos failed in his bid on Tuesday to strike out the lawsuit brought against him by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin pertaining to alleged defamation during the 2022 Umno General Assembly.

Khairy's lawyer, Shakeel Saifuzzaman, stated that the Judicial Commissioner of the High Court, Dr Suzana Muhamad Said, struck out Jamal's application on the grounds that there were issues which need to be addressed in the lawsuit.

"The defendant's [Jamal's] application to strike out the writ of summons and the plaintiff's [Khairy's] statement of claim has been dismissed by the court.

"The court has also set May 27 for case management," the lawyer said when contacted after the online proceedings on Tuesday.

Jamal had filed the application on Sept 19, 2023, citing various grounds such as unclear allegations against him, accusations of defamation, and abuse of the court process.

Khairy filed the lawsuit on May 24, 2023, stating that during the 2022 Umno General Assembly held on Jan 14 last year, Jamal held a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Centre attended by media practitioners, Umno representatives, and several members and leaders of the party.

He alleged that on the same day, Jamal uploaded a video on Facebook titled "Saya harap Khairy Jamaluddin dikenakan tindakan oleh Lembaga Disiplin Umno selepas mengeluarkan kenyataan yang semberono dan memalukan Umno #UmnoDuluKiniDanSelamanya" (I hope Khairy Jamaluddin is disciplined by the Umno Disciplinary Board after issuing baseless and shameful statements against Umno #UmnoThenNowForever) under the name DS Jamal Yunos (DS Jamal Yunos Official).

According to the former Umno Youth Chief, the defendant also uploaded the same video on a TikTok account under the name 'jamal_yunos'.

Khairy alleges that the defamatory statements included implications that he lacks integrity, is unfit to be a leader, and is disloyal to Umno and its leaders.