Court sets Oct 26 to hear Synergy Promenade’s suit against Shahrir Samad

Shahrir Abdul Samad — Shahrir made public Felda’s concerns over the potential loss of the plots in December last year. The state palm oil agency was at risk of losing its ownership of a strategic parcel of land worth an estimated RM270 million on Jalan Semarak, following a contentious transfer deal three years ago (Pic: TMRpic)

by BERNAMA / pic by TMR FILE

THE High Court today set three days beginning Oct 26 to hear the property developer Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd’s RM100 million defamation suit against former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad (picture) in connection with Felda land.

The dates were fixed by judge Wong Chee Lin during the case management today.

“The court sets Oct 26, 27 and 28 for the hearing. Four of five witnesses from both parties are expected to testify,” Shahrir’s lawyer, Ranjit Singh, when met by reporters.

He said the court had earlier fixed March 26 and 27 to hear the case, but it was postponed due to the Movement Control Order (MCO).

On June 4, 2018, Synergy Promenade filed a suit against Shahrir who was then Felda chairman, for allegedly issuing several defamatory statements between December 2017 and March 2018, which were published on Facebook, YouTube and news portals.

According to the statement of claim, the company plaintiff claimed that Shahrir’s statements had tarnished the company’s reputation and resulted in the plaintiff losing the projects that it was already working on.

The company is seeking an injunction order to prevent the defendant from republishing the statements as well as compensation of RM100 million, benefits, costs and other suitable relief.