Tan, the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce life president, sued Chow over allegedly defamatory remarks related to his resignation from the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged.
Tan, who was trustee of the home, had quit along with two others as a result of the falling out with Chow, who is the home’s board chairman.
Justice Quay Chew Soon said the court found that Chow’s remarks were not defamatory, but statements of fact made without malice.
“Chow’s remark about why a tender was required – since the Jubilee home was not owned by the state government, but a public organisation and not Tan’s personal property – was a statement of fact.
“It is my finding that the impugned statements do not bear the defamatory meanings or innuendos as pleaded by Tan.
“I find that the defence of justification, fair comment, and qualified privilege has been successfully proven,” Quay said in his verdict delivered on Zoom.
K Kirubakaran, Kek Boon Wei and Lee Wen Qian appeared for Tan while Cheah Eng Soon represented Chow.
According to state government mouthpiece Buletin Mutiara, Chow claimed that the home was planning to build a workers’ hostel on land that it owned without an open tender.
Chow said that any development must go through an open tender.
“The land belongs to the Jubilee Fund, not Tan Kok Ping. The board must decide on the tender process, which did not happen,” he was quoted as saying.
The home, occupying some 9ha in Gelugor, was established in 1935 to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V, according to its website.
It was set up under the Penang and Province Wellesley Jubilee Fund Ordinance 1935 by the then colonial Straits Settlements government and replaced by an act of Parliament in 1969.
It is overseen by the chief minister as chairman and three other trustees.
In delivering his ruling in favour of Chow, Quay said the impugned statements should be read in the full context of his press conference, and not in isolation.
He said Chow’s response was legitimate, following Tan’s resignation as trustee of the home and subsequent press conferences slamming Chow for poor governance.
Quay also said that Chow’s remarks were measured and focused on governance issues related to the home rather than personal attacks.