The Kuala Lumpur High Court today postponed to Dec 23 to deliver a judgment in the defamation suit filed by PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar against popular Malay daily Utusan Malaysia.

Judicial Commissioner Mohd Yazid Mustafa was scheduled to deliver his decision in the seven-year-old case today but reserved it to hear further submissions by counsel Mohamed Hanipa Maidin for Mahfuz on what would be the appropriate quantum for general damages to be awarded.

Mahfuz had filed the suit on Dec 10, 2001, over an article published in the newspaper on March 3, 2001 titled ` Demonstrasi - Mahfuz istihar bersama Keadilan ' ( Demonstration - Mahfuz declares to be with Keadilan ).

mahfuz omar 01 Mahfuz named Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd and its former group editor Khalid Mohamad as defendants.

The submission of the quantum was necessary today as Mahfuz had not stated the amount which he sought in his statement of claim.

Mohamed Hanipa told the court his morning that a damage of RM200,000 was sufficient as a general damage.

"The general trend now is for the High Court to award between RM100,000 to RM300,000 in general damages. I think an amount of RM200,000 is sufficient as general damages," said Mohamed Hanipa.

Mohamed Hanipa added that the amount was appropriate given that his client was the member of parliament for Pokok Sena and was a respected legislator.

He however left it to the discretion of the court to determine the amount of exemplary and aggravated damages.

Give him RM10

Lawyer M Reza Hassan, representing the defendants, disagreed with the suggested quantum, saying that there was a precedent set by the High Court and the Court of Appeal to limit such amount based on the character of the plaintiff.

"Mahfuz himself during cross-examination admitted he was quite a vocal person and was always in quarrel with other politicians," said the counsel.

"His character reflects that such a high amount would be inappropriate, should the court decide to award it to the plaintiff. If it were me I would give a nominal amount in damages," Reza said in suggesting a RM10 amount.

Reza further submitted Mahfuz was well known for being a temperamental person, quarrelling with government legislators.

"All this has to be taken into consideration," he said.

Mohamed Hanipa objected to the notion of awarding a high amount to people possessing such a character.

"My client is a politician, and that requires him to be vocal in representing his constituents. Being vocal is not a crime and that should not be taken into consideration," the counsel said, adding his client had never been charged in a court of law for being vocal.

After hearing the brief submission, Mohd Yazid set Dec 23 to deliver his judgment.

Utusan: we spoke to him

Mahfuz, who was the Pas Youth chief at the time of the news report, said in his statement of claim that the article meant he supported the then Parti Keadilan Nasional (now PKR) to topple the government by using force.

He added that the article alluded that he was a leader who advocated the use of force and violence, and that he did not believe in the democratic process of using electoral process.

The article also reflected him to be a person who believes in overthrowing the government by the use of force and he was a person who was willing to affect the security of the country.

He said the said article also allegedly meant he was against PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat who did not agree in the advocating violence or force to topple the government.

In Utusan's defence, they argued it was justifiable to publish the article as they had contacted Mahfuz by phone for his comments. The daily also claimed the article was the truth in its fact and contents.