PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan claims that Penang CM Lim Guan Eng has yet to pay him RM500 as ordered by the High Court.

However, Lim’s special legal officer, Raja Syarafina Raja Shuib, has countered that Nasrudin owes the CM another RM2,000, on top of the RM10,000 he has yet to pay.

These are payments ordered by the High Court, said Raja Syarafina, who added that Lim has yet to make the claim of RM2,000 from Nasrudin.

She reminded Nasrudin that when the court rejected his appeal to set aside his defamation suit in April 20 last year, the court also ordered him to pay RM2,000 to Lim.

“Lim's lawyers have been instructed to claim the money immediately from Nasrudin. The monies - RM10,000 and RM2,000 - will be given to Lim's lawyers. Not a cent is for Lim.

"I hope this clarification is sufficient and that Nasrudin has regretted his action (of accusing Lim with baseless allegations), and that he agrees to settle the matter instead of insisting that he is right,” she added.

Raja Syarafina was referring to an Aug 8, 2014, Facebook posting in which Nasrudin asked: “What is the difference between Kidex and Penang undersea tunnel?”

He alleged that the undersea tunnel was awarded to a private company via direct negotiation, but Lim found that offensive, insisting that the concession was given through an open tender, after a request for proposal exercise was conducted.

Raja Syarafina said this after Nasrudin claimed in a statement yesterday that Lim had failed to pay him RM500 as ordered by the High Court, when the CM decided to cancel his defamation suit against the PAS leader.

Nasrudin was responding to Raja Syarafina saying he would be in contempt of court if he failed, or refused to pay the RM10,000, despite a sealed order sent to him on Sept 19 by Lim’s lawyers.

Nasrudin explained he was overseas at the time, but would make good the payment after he settled some urgent matters that had cropped up during his absence.

He denied being in contempt of court and went on to lecture Raja Syarafina on the matter.

On Nasrudin's claim of RM500 from Lim, Raja Syarafina said the sealed court order for the amount was never sent to Lim's lawyer.

“The last letter from Lim's lawyer to Nasrudin's was on Oct 3. After that, no claims were made to the CM, until today.

“Thus, there is no question of Lim being in contempt of court, as there were no claims made to him for the money. Nasrudin ought to check his facts before raising this issue,” she added.

Attempt to divert attention

Today, Raja Syarafina issued another statement in response to Nasrudin, saying Nasrudin tried to divert attention by raising less relevant matters from the issue of his failure to pay RM10,000 to Lim.

She reiterated that a sealed order with the claim of RM10,000 was sent by Lim's lawyers to Nasrudin's on Sept 19.

“Even though Nasrudin was overseas until the end of Sept, we have never received any request to extend the date of payment from the Termeloh MP or from his lawyer,” she said.

“In these days of the Internet and global outreach, is it so difficult for Nasrudin to inform us if he needs more time to settle the payment?” she asked.

Raja Syarafina said since the payment was not settled by its deadline on Oct 2, a reminder was sent to Nasrudin on Oct 7. His lawyer's firm received the reminder yesterday.

“Not even a shadow of the payment was seen even after three weeks from its due date, but Nasrudin chose to attack me in a statement he issued yesterday,” she lamented.

Raja Syarafina said although she has a law degree and legal experience, she is touched by Nasrudin's willingness to lecture her on the understanding of the concepts and procedures of law.

“He should remember that he was ordered to pay costs of RM10,000 to Lim as proof that he regrets accusing the CM with baseless allegations in his Facebook posting, and will withdraw the said article,” she held.

“Since he has failed or refused to make good the payment, despite receiving a sealed order on Sept 19, isn't that non-compliance of the court order?”