The Pandan MP, and a portal owner, have now filed a leave application in the Federal Court to reverse the Court of Appeal ruling that denied them from relying on the defence of fair comment.
Rafizi’s lawyer Razlan Hadri Zulkifli said they were waiting for a date for the apex court to hear the leave application.
“We have filed three legal questions to obtain leave to appeal the Court of Appeal ruling,” Razlan told FMT.
On Nov 29 last year, a three-man bench chaired by Rohana Yusof ruled that Rafizi and portal owner Chan Chee Keong could not rely on the defence of fair comment in the defamation suit filed by Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor against the two.
The High Court in April 2016 dismissed the couple’s bid to remove Rafizi’s and Media Rakyat portal owner Chan’s defence of fair comment in the suit.
Justice Noraini Abdul Rahman had said the removal of the defence was premature.
Noraini had wanted the trial to proceed and she would decide later whether the two were entitled to the defence.
Following the Court of Appeal ruling, however, Rafizi and Chan could rely only on other defence, including qualified privilege, to contest the suit.
Najib and Rosmah sued Rafizi over his statement allegedly disparaging them at a forum on oil subsidy in Bandar Tun Razak on Nov 22, 2014.
The couple claimed that the Pandan MP’s statement implied that Najib had unlawfully stolen the people’s money in connection with the oil subsidy removal.
Rosmah claimed Rafizi had suggested that she unlawfully benefited from the money.
The couple also claimed Chan had failed to exercise responsible journalism to verify the claims before publishing them.
They alleged that Rafizi’s speech was recorded by Media Rakyat and uploaded by Chan or his assistant on Media Rakyat’s YouTube and portal.
Najib and Rosmah further alleged that Chan had also shared the recording in Media Rakyat’s Facebook account which could be freely accessed by Internet users worldwide.
Over the last two years, Najib had filed several defamation lawsuits against opposition members and an on-line news portal.
Meanwhile, opposition members and critics of 1MDB, including former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad have also filed lawsuits against Najib for alleged misuse of public office.
None of the cases has gone for trial as both parties are also engaged in interlocutory applications to strike out the suits.