High Court Set June 19 To Hear Injunction Application By Lynas

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Bernama) -- The High Court will on June 19 hear an injunction application filed by Lynas Corporation Limited and Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd to restrain 'Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas' (SMSL), an anti-Lynas group, from further publishing defamatory articles on Lynas. Judge Datuk John Louis O'Hara set the date in chambers after meeting lawyers Rishwant Singh and K.H Wong who representing Lynas, and lawyer Gene Anand Vendargon who represented SMSL Sdn Bhd (Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas). The injunction will be heard as inter-parte. Lynas had filed an ex-parte injunction application, but SMSL as the defendant succeeded in its bid for the injunction to be heard as inter-parte. SMSL's counsel, Gene Anand told reporters that Lynas had filed its amended statement of claim by adding three more defendants in the suit and they would file an affidavit in reply within two weeks after receiving the document from Lynas. He said his client has yet to be served with the suit. However, Rishwant declined to reveal the names of the three defendants. Meanwhile, in a different court, Judge Dr Prasad Sandosham Abraham fixed June 12 to hear an injunction application by Lynas to restrain the operator of online news portal 'Free Malaysia Today'(FMT), from publishing defamatory articles on Lynas. On April 19, the two suits were filed separately at the Civil High Court registry. In the first suit, Lynas Corporation of Sydney, Australia, and Lynas Malaysia named MToday News Sdn Bhd as defendant, while in the second suit, they named SMSL Sdn Bhd and its two directors, Tan Bun Teet and Lim Sow Teow, as defendants. In the suit, Lynas claimed that FMT on March 6, had published a defamatory article on its website while SMSL had published a defamatory article dated March 22, on its blogsite. Lynas is seeking general damages and aggravated damages, costs and an injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing defamatory articles on Lynas. -- BERNAMA