Consortium Zenith BUCG (CZBUCG) Chairman Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulikifli said any party was free to file their case in the courts and this one was no exception.

“It is a free country. You are free to counter sue if you like.

“We will see the outcome in court. We place our trust in the judiciary,” he said when contacted.

Earlier today, PCM Vice-President Huan Cheng Guan said he would sue the Penang Government and CZBUCG for implying he lied at a recent press conference.

CZBUCG recently announced that it would take Huan to court for allegedly “continuously” defaming the company, affecting the confidence of its financiers and investors.

Huan had questioned the reduced equity of CZBUCG’s Chinese partners. He claimed it had been reduced significantly since they joined hands in 2013.

He lodged a report at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on the matter.

At a press conference, Zarul had replied that the original joint venture partners had signed an agreement for the RM6.3 billion project, which was still binding. He added two companies had opted out for business reasons.

Following the press conference, Huan said CZBUCG and Penang Government officials had implied that he had lied, thus defaming him.

CZBUCG won an open tender to build a undersea tunnel connecting George Town and Butterworth and also three paired roads worth RM6.3 billion in 2013.