Elyse Ng, the lawyer for J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd, said the company could not serve copies of the writ of summons and statement of claim on Azmin personally despite numerous attempts.

It filed an application seeking to serve copies of the documents through substituted service, with the court allowing the application last Friday.

Substituted service allows the delivery of court documents by way of advertisement or any other means to bring the proceedings to the defendant’s attention. It is used when personal service cannot be effected.

“We were instructed by the court to serve the cause papers on him by publishing the notice in a local newspaper,” Ng said.

J&E Advance Tech filed a defamation suit against Azmin on April 14 for claiming that it was awarded a contract to import eggs from India through direct negotiation.

The egg importer claimed that Azmin’s remarks, which he is alleged to have made at a Perikatan Nasional ceramah in March, were defamatory and had implied that it was a dishonest company.

It further alleged that the remarks against it were made in bad faith and in an attempt to incite the public against it.

J&E Advance Tech is seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages from Azmin.

The company also seeks an injunction to restrain Azmin from repeating the impugned remarks.