The former deputy chief minister had sued S Murugesan, leader of an NGO, Karunai Oviyam, in May last year after he accused him of corruption and misconduct in a series of videos shared online.

Sessions court judge Helmi Ghani found the claims to be baseless and ruled yesterday that the videos were defamatory and had damaged Ramasamy’s reputation.

Helmi said the videos were deliberately shared with third parties and included false claims about so-called housing scandals in Penang.

He said the claims by Murugesan were not based on facts, and rejected his argument that the comments were fair and in the public interest.

“The court is satisfied that the defamatory elements have been proven on the balance of probabilities,” he said in an e-review session with the parties involved, adding that the claims were false and malicious.

Helmi awarded Ramasamy RM150,000 in general damages and RM25,000 in aggravated and exemplary damages. He also ordered Murugesan to pay costs of RM5,000.

Ramasamy was represented by Shamsher Singh Thind, while Murugesan was unrepresented.

Ramasamy’s court victory comes days after his defamation suit against consumer activist K Koris Atan was dismissed.