IPOH, July 12 ― A High Court judge hearing the appeal of Razman Zakaria against a defamation verdict worth RM 200,000,has recused himself from presiding over the case.
Judicial Commissioner Anselm Charles Fernandis decided to recuse himself from the Perak PAS commissioner’s defamation appeal hearing today to avoid any possibility of bias.
This was due to the fact that he had heard an interlocutory appeal by Razman before in the course of the case's proceedings.
In November 2017, the original verdict saw the Sessions Court here order Razman to pay RM200,000 to former mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, after Nizar won the defamation suit.
In her ruling, Sessions Court judge D.Sunita Kaur Jessy found that Razman’s 2015 remarks accusing Nizar of supporting the DAP’s secular concept to be defamatory.
The judge added that Razman ― who is now also Gunung Semanggol state assemblyman--had failed to provide evidence to support his allegations.
Nizar's lawyer Mohd Fitri Asmuni explained that Razman had filed an earlier appeal against Sunita's decision.
“The Session Court judge allowed Datuk Seri Nizar's application to strike out Razman's counter claim. This appeal was heard before Yang Arif Anslem, who recused himself today.”
Fitri said Nizar's legal team had no objection for him to hear today's appeal.
“However, he took the position not to hear the matter and we felt that better for him to recuse himself if he was not comfortable to hear the matter.”
Fitri said a new judge was expected to take over the case next week.
Nizar, who is now Perak Parti Amanah Negara deputy chairman and state executive councillor, had filed the suit at the High Court here in August 2015 demanding RM3 million from Razman.
The case was later transferred to the Sessions Court.
