Yusoff Rawther also withdrew his appeal in the Court of Appeal to remove a number of paragraphs in Anwar’s defence that he claimed were irrelevant to the suit.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng then struck out the appeal and allowed RM5,000 in costs as requested by Anwar’s lawyer, Navpreet Singh.

Yusoff had brought the suit against Anwar in 2021, claiming that the latter had sexually assaulted him on Oct 2, 2018.

Justices Hashim Hamzah and Lim Chong Fong were also in the panel that had been scheduled to hear the appeal today.

Lawyer Reenajit Kaur Golen, who represented Yusoff, asked for no costs to be ordered.

She said Yusoff had written to the court on March 6 seeking to withdraw the appeal.

“Up to now, there have been no submissions filed by the appellant or the respondent (Anwar),” she said during online proceedings.

Navpreet said Yusoff’s decision to withdraw the appeal only showed he agreed with the High Court’s decision that he had failed to pass the striking-out threshold test.

He said Yusoff filed the notice of appeal and proceeded with case management sessions to obtain directions to file submissions.

“He made an about-turn a month before the appeal hearing date,” he said, adding that Yusoff decided to withdraw the appeal just two days before the deadline to file written submissions.

Navpreet urged the court to order RM5,000 in costs to cover expenses in dealing with the appeal.

On Sept 9 last year, judicial commissioner Johan Lee of the Kuala Lumpur High Court said Yusoff’s application was without merit and the suit ought to be ventilated at a full trial.

It was in relation to the suit Yusoff had filed against Anwar on July 14, 2021, alleging sexual assault by his former employer.

In his statement of claim, Yusoff alleged that the incident took place on Oct 2, 2018, at Anwar’s residence in Segambut.

He claimed that as a result of the incident, he was accused of plotting to bring down Anwar and damaging his political career, and that this affected his mental health.

He is seeking special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages, and interest, costs and other relief as deemed fit by the court.

Yusoff had filed an application in December 2021 to remove a number of paragraphs in Anwar’s defence that he claimed were irrelevant to the suit.

He also said Anwar’s counterclaim was speculative in nature, vague and lacked clarity and particulars.

He added that the counterclaim had not identified any cause of action and was an abuse of the court’s process.

Navpreet told FMT a case management will be held before Johan on April 13.

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