According to a statement the Temerloh MP posted on the PAS website, he said that upon receiving advice on the matter, he was agreeable to withdraw a portion of the article and nothing more.

“At 10.20 this morning, I decided I would not apologise (to Lim) and ordered my lawyer to proceed with the trial over my article entitled “What’s the difference between Kidex and the Penang Tunnel?” dated August 6, 2014,” he said.

“At 10.30 in the morning, I was called to settle the case in an out-of-court settlement at the judge’s chambers via mediation, but stressed that I would not apologise because my article had not accused the plaintiff.”

He said by 11.05am that same morning, the two parties had agreed to an out-of-court settlement, with Nasruddin agreeing to withdraw the portion of his article that was alleged to have misled social media users.

The judge then ordered Nasruddin to pay RM10,000 in court costs to Lim.

Lim had initially sued Nasruddin for alleging he had granted the RM4.63 billion undersea tunnel project to Consortium Zenith BUCG Bhd without an open tender process.

Nasruddin had accused Lim instead of granting the project via direct negotiations, despite Pakatan Rakyat’s objection to it.

He also questioned Lim’s excessive expenditure, calling it unnecessary given that Penang had recorded a budget deficit for six consecutive years.