A three-member bench led by Justice Ravinthran Paramaguru revised the sum payable by Rayus Abdul Rahim, also known as Ray Imran, to RM250,000.

Also on the panel hearing the appeal were Justices Nazlan Ghazali and Azhahari Kamal Ramli.

“The RM80,000 quantum awarded by the High Court was manifestly low in light of four separate publications made over two days,” Ravinthran said when announcing the decision.

The appeals court also ordered Rayus to pay Sundra RM20,000 as costs for the appeal, and raised the costs awarded by the High Court from RM4,000 to RM20,000.

Rayus did not participate in the appeal.

Sundra had sued Rayus over four defamatory comments published on Oct 16 and 17, 2021 via the Facebook account “Shahrir Samad -Tok Uban” belonging to former minister Shahrir Abdul Samad.

Rayus did not defend the suit.

On Nov 25, 2022, the High Court awarded damages against him after entering judgment in default of appearance.

The adverse comments were published by Rayus in response to Shahrir’s posting titled “Kerana Dendam Imej Negara Terjejas”, published on Oct 16, 2021.

The former Umno leader’s posting concerned the Pakatan Harapan government, which held power from May 2018 to February 2020.

It also made reference to three criminal breach of trust charges brought by then attorney-general Tommy Thomas against Sundra despite Sundra having immunity from prosecution under the law in his capacity as AIAC director.

Sundra was charged on March 16, 2019 for offences allegedly committed between Aug 17 and Dec 8, 2018 involving a total of RM1.1 million.

However, in June 2021, four months prior to the publication, the Federal Court ruled that Sundra was entitled to immunity from prosecution for acts committed while in office.

Lawyers Rueben Mathiavaranam and Sumita Balasubramaniam acted for Sundra in today’s appeal. Rayus was absent and no counsel represented him.

Rueben told reporters that Rayus had been served with the notice of appeal at his last known address.