Shamsher Singh Thind, appearing for Ramasamy, informed judge Ooi Sheow Yeah that Chow had been served personally with a writ of summons and statement of claim on July 30, which was confirmed by A Ruebankumar, acting for Chow.
Ruebankumar requested that Chow be given until Sept 17 to file his defence.
“We need time to obtain instructions and gather documents from the chief minister’s office to file our defence,” he said.
Ooi then set Sept 17 for the defence to be filed after Shamsher raised no objection.
The suit arose from statements Chow made on his Facebook page, which Ramasamy claimed had tarnished his reputation.
In his statement of claim, Ramasamy – who served as deputy chief minister II from 2008 to 2023 – claimed Chow’s Facebook post on Oct 3, 2023 contained false accusations regarding the former’s involvement in the approval of a deal between Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and Umech Land Sdn Bhd.
Chow’s post suggested that due diligence was carried out and approvals granted by a committee, including Ramasamy, for the joint venture project with Umech Land, Ramasamy’s court filing read.
Ramasamy refuted the claim, saying no due diligence was conducted by the committee in question and that he had not approved the said project.
He claimed the meeting referenced in Chow’s post was actually chaired by Chow and involved Umech Construction Sdn Bhd, not Umech Land.
The 226ha Batu Kawan land deal, initially made through a directly negotiated tender, became controversial due to claims that it was sold below market value.
PDC initially sold the land to Umech Land for RM646 million.
Following the controversy and a change in Umech Land’s majority ownership, PDC cancelled the joint venture agreement and opted to sell the land through open tender.
In his suit, Ramasamy claimed that Chow’s remarks had implied his involvement in corrupt practices, damaging his standing as a respected politician and former academic.
The suit demands general, aggravated and exemplary damages, along with a 5% annual interest on the damages from the date of assessment until full payment.
Ramasamy also sought a mandatory injunction for Chow to retract the statements and publish an unconditional public apology in several major newspapers and on Facebook.
He also asked the court for an injunction preventing Chow from repeating the statements and costs.