The High Court in Kuala Lumpur will decide on June 16 the quantum of damages that Umno linked private television station TV3 will have to pay former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, for defamation.

This is over the purchase of the WWW1 car registration licence plate by the Johor sultan in 2012.

The court's deputy registrar Hanie Zatul Akmar fixed the date after hearing testimony from Nizar on how much he should be paid.

According to Nizar's lawyer Mohd Fitri Asmuni, Hanie Zatul fixed May 31 for written submissions to be given.

“She then fixed June 16 as the date for the court to deliver its decision,” said the lawyer.

TV3 or Syarikat Televisyen (M) Bhd was represented by lawyers Liew Teck Huat and Lim Qi Si.

It was previously reported on Feb 25, 2014, that the Court of Appeal had unanimously found that TV3 was found to have defamed Nizar and also ruled that the private television station had failed to prove justification in its defence.

The appellate court also instructed that the damages be assessed by the High Court.

TV3 has also failed in its attempt to raise the issue of judicial bias when a five-member Federal Court bench had on Feb 24, ruled the television station had failed to pass the threshold test of real danger of bias.

Despite the apex court decision this year, TV3 and Umno owned daily Utusan Malaysia's appeal over the same matter has yet to be heard jointly.

Nizar in 2012 had filed a RM50 million defamation suit against TV3 seeking aggravated and exemplary damages following its report on his tweet on the WWW1 car registration licence plate purchased by the Johor sultan.

He claimed the TV3 had said that he (Nizar) had tweeted that the Johor sultan had used public funds in winning the bid for the number.

The former Perak MB initially lost the suit in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.