Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, who delivered his ruling today, said the defendants were liable for their action and the plaintiff had proven his case on the balance of probability.
He said although the government had the power to prosecute, its decision to do so was shocking and arbitrary, as the charge it framed against Nik Nazmi under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 had been declared unconstitutional.
The judge ordered RM80,000 in special damages, RM100,000 general damages and another RM50,000 in exemplary damages.
Zaidi also ordered a 5% interest until the settlement of the judgement sum.
He also ordered the government to pay RM10,000 in costs.
In May, the High Court had dismissed the striking-out application by Gani and the government and their appeal to the Court of Appeal was also dismissed in September.
Nik Nazmi, who is a Selangor state executive councillor, was the only witness in his action while Gani and the government had lined up two witnesses.
Gani, in his application, had urged the court to strike out the suit as the politician had earlier pleaded guilty to a criminal offence.
Gani said Nik Nazmi was fined RM1,500 last year for organising the Black 505 rally in 2013.
On Dec 8 last year, Nik Nazmi, in a surprise turn of events, decided to plead guilty in the Shah Alam High Court to organising the mammoth gathering in protest against the May 5, 2013 general election outcome.
He committed the offence by failing to give the mandatory 10-day notice to police under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 regarding the gathering at Stadium Kelana Jaya on May 8, 2013.
Nik Nazmi was first charged with the offence in May 2013 in the Sessions Court but the Court of Appeal acquitted him in April the following year on grounds that the section that provided for a maximum RM10,000 fine was unconstitutional.
He was again charged in the lower court with the same offence in May 2014 but the High Court threw out the government’s appeal as it was bound by the Court of Appeal ruling.
The prosecution in 2015 charged Nik Nazmi for the third time for organising the rally and he pleaded guilty to the offence.
On March 31, 2015, Nik Nazmi filed the suit, alleging that he had been the victim of malicious prosecution.
Gani, in his defence, said his act was purely an exercise of discretion vested in him by law and not done in bad faith.
He said there must be a charge hanging over Nik Nazmi because the government had appealed against the Court of Appeal decision to the Federal Court.
The government then withdrew the appeal in the Federal Court.
High Court dismisses ex-AG’s application to throw out Nik Nazmi suit
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/11/13/nik-nazmi-says-ag-abusing-system-with-three-time-charge/