The Kuala Lumpur High Court today fixed March 11 to assess the damages for Kelantan prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra in a default judgment entered against his estranged wife Manohara Odelia Pinot and her mother in his RM105 million defamation suit.

Senior assistant registrar Noordura Mohamed Din fixed the date in chambers today after hearing submissions from the prince's counsel Mohd Haaziq Pillay on the losses suffered by the prince.

Mohd Haaziq told the media that he asked the court to take into account that the defamatory words uttered by Manohara and her mother were baseless and could have certain motives in view of the situation in the Kelantan palace.

On Nov 5 last year, senior assistant registrar Shazali Hidayat Shariff granted Tengku Muhammad Fakhry a judgment in default after Manohara and Daisy Fajarina failed to appoint a new counsel for the case after their earlier counsel discharged himself.

In the suit filed on July 20 last year, the Kelantan prince claimed that the two had falsely and maliciously defamed him in allegations they made at news conferences between April and June 2009 about Manohara being abused.

- Bernama