Mohd Anas Sudin said Muhyiddin had uttered the words during a press conference at the Dewan Rakyat lobby on April 6.

A day earlier, Anas had held a press conference to announce that 500 members from that division had left PPBM with effect from March 28 as they were dissatisfied with Muhyiddin for “practising cronyism”.

Muhyiddin, on April 6, had said only about 20 individuals, including Anas, had left the party and that it was not a cause for concern.

The former Umno deputy president said PPBM was intact although a few were unhappy.

The suit was filed today by Messrs Hazwan & Co at the High Court registry.

Anas, in his statement of claim, said Muhyiddin’s statement that he had left to join PKR was untrue, ill intended and aimed at ruining his reputation.

Anas, who was an Umno member for 30 years before joining PPBM, said he was slated to be the Rembau pro-tem division chief, and was never a PKR member.

“Muhyiddin’s statement has brought down my reputation among family members,friends and society at large who have labelled me now as ‘lalang and tupai’ ( an unprincipled person),” he said.

He said Muhyiddin’s utterance gave the impression that he (Anas) was a traitor to PPBM and lacked integrity.

Anas, 50, is claiming for compensation which includes aggravated and exemplary damages and other relief deemed fit by the court.

Lawyer Hazwan Mohd Nor, who is representing Anas, said a sealed copy of the suit would be served on Muhyiddin once the legal papers were extracted from the court registry.