The suit filed by Mohamad Salleh Ismail against Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution over the purchase of eight units of condominium, will go for full trial.

This was because both parties had failed to settle the case through a mediation process before High Court Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

However, the trial date has yet to be set, but the court fixed Sept 2 for case management.

Mohamad Salleh’s counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told reporters that today the court wanted to know whether there could be a resolution over the suit, however, he said both parties had failed to reach an agreement.

He said there were two overtures proposed by the defendants for the settlement but neither of them (overtures) had been accepted by the plaintiff.

“We (plaintiff) have given a counter proposal over the defendant’s overtures, but they (defendants) had also not accepted it (counter proposal),” said Muhammad Shafee.

On Dec 24 2013, Mohamad Salleh, who is executive chairperson of National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFC) and his company filed a defamation suit against Nurul Izzah and Saifuddin.

In his statement of claim, Mohamad Salleh said that Nurul Izzah had made a statement regarding the exposure by PKR director of strategy Mohd Rafizi Ramli which alleged he (Mohamad Salleh) had bought eight units of condominiums at KL Eco City with public funds allocated to NFC.  

Nurul Izzah’s statement was aired by Malaysiakini TV on March 7, 2012.

He further claimed that her statement implied he and his family had misappropriated NFC funds to buy the condominiums for their personal use and not for the company.

He claimed that following the statement, his reputation and credibility as a highly educated person, businessman, and husband to the former women, family and community development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was tarnished and subjected to public criticism.

He is seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages and an injunction to prevent the defendants from publishing the statement again.  

- Bernama