Petaling Jaya Selatan MIC chairperson V Subramaniam succeeded in his bid to strike out the defamation suit filed by Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam against him.

High Court judge John Louis O'Hara made the decision in chambers today after hearing submissions from Subramaniam's counsel Jadadish Chandra and the minister counsel's P Paari on Jan 19.

Chandra told the media that the judge allowed V Subramaniam's application, and dismissed the suit with costs.

On June 7 last year, the minister sued the publisher of a Tamil daily Makkal Osai , printer FKZ Printing Sdn Bhd, journalist K Devandran and V Subramaniam claiming that the newspaper and V Subramaniam had defamed him in three articles published on May 24, 25 and 29, last year.

With today's ruling, the other three defendants remain in the suit.

In his statement of claim, the minister said the articles portrayed him as a dishonest politician and a fraud.

He had sought general damages, costs and further relief deemed fit by the court.

He had also applied for an injunction to stop the defendants, through agents or individuals, from further publishing the alleged defamatory words against him.

On Aug 19, High Court judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof rejected his injunction application.

- Bernama