Lawyer Zarifah Zuhayra Zakaria said judicial commissioner Leong Wai Hong rejected the application on grounds that Azmin’s draft witness statement as a defendant in the case had not yet been accepted as evidence in court.
“The plaintiff’s request to start contempt of court proceedings as a whole involves the issue of admissibility of Azmin’s draft witness statement. The process had not yet been fulfilled during the trial stage.
“The draft was only shown to Azmin to confirm that it was his statement but did not pass the other stage where it had to be signed by Azmin.
“Although the witness statement had been filed before, it did not go through the proper processes, so it remained a draft and was not accepted as evidence in court,” she told reporters after the proceedings today.
Zarifah said the court also rejected J&E Advance Tech’s application to recall Azmin for extended cross-examination in the trial of the suit.
“Both applications were rejected with a total cost of RM10,000,” she said.
The court set Sept 17 for the parties to file written submissions, and Oct 16 for oral submissions.
J&E Advance Tech filed the ex parte application on May 23 on the allegation that Azmin had committed fraud in the court by filing a new defendant’s witness statement on the second day of the trial on May 17, with the intention of deceiving and misleading the court and the parties involved.
The company claimed Azmin had failed to present a reason for the delay in presenting new evidence on the second day of the trial, while the court had ordered the filing of pre-trial documents on or before Dec 30, 2023.
Lawyer Bhavanash Sharma, representing J&E Advance Tech, confirmed his client would file an application to postpone the proceedings of the suit since it will file an appeal against both decisions.
J&E Advance Tech filed a suit against Azmin on April 12, 2023 for alleging that the company obtained a contract through direct negotiations with the government to import eggs from India.
The company claimed Azmin had made and published a speech defaming the company in a ceramah at Taman Melewar here on March 11, 2023, with his statement reproduced in print and electronic media, including YouTube.