Speaking at the “Defamation Law Reform: Revisiting the Defamation Act 1957” forum here today, Harmindar said it did not make sense for the government to sue its citizens for defamation.
“The government shouldn’t be allowed to sue for defamation.
“I cannot fathom how a government can have a governing reputation and yet use the taxpayers’ money to sue its own citizens to stifle their criticism.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” he said at the forum held at the Malaysian Bar’s office.
Harmindar, who retired last month, cited an “unusual case” where the Sarawak government was allowed to sue an individual.
He was referring to the apex court’s landmark ruling on Sept 26, 2018, that the federal and state governments could sue individuals for defamation.
The ruling was made in the case involving Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen’s appeal against the Sarawak government.
Similarly, Harmindar said, several other entities, particularly corporations, should be barred from filing defamation suits.
“I might be controversial here but I said in some of my judgments that defamation suits should be restricted to individuals and not corporations, simply because of the inequality of power between corporations against the individual.
“Political parties, organisations, governments, and corporations should not be allowed to sue for defamation,” he said.
Apologies useless
Harmindar also said orders for apologies in defamation cases served no real purpose.
“An apology is useless if it does not come from the heart, so why put it in the legislation? It’s easier if you order corrections. An apology doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
The former judge also disagreed with awarding exorbitant amounts in damages in defamation suits.
He said that under defamation laws, a claimant’s primary concern was vindication, not an excessive amount of money in damages.
“The common law has always been occupied with money as compensation, but defamation law is quite different because what the person seeks is vindication.
“When you win a case, you are vindicated but some courts award millions (in damages); all that is rubbish,” he said.