In what is believed to be one of the highest fines imposed for contempt, 12 majority and eight minority shareholders of Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd were fined RM100,000 each by the Federal Court, failing which they face a jail term of eight months.

A lawyer who acted for the minority shareholders was fined RM150,000, or in default one year's jail.

They have been given until tomorrow by the apex court to pay their fines.

In total, they have to fork out RM2.15 million.

Federal Court judge Suriyadi Halim Omar, in passing sentence after the 21 apologised to the court, said they had subverted the administration of justice.

“This had resulted in the court being undermined in public confidence, ridiculed, scandalised and had also affected the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” said Justice Suriyadi, who led the five-member bench.

The shareholders who were fined were between the ages of 40 and 75.

The other judges who heard the matter were Federal Court judges Justice Abu Samah Nordin, Justice Ramly Ali, Justice Azahar Mohamed and Justice Balia Yusof Wahi.

The apex court also will fixed case management for senior lawyer VK Lingam who acted for the majority shareholders in the original application for review, and three other minority shareholders who were not present in court.

Senior federal counsel Alice Loke, who represented the Attorney-General’s Chambers, told reporters after the proceedings that another date will be fixed to hear the four.

The majority shareholders led by See Teow Chuan, in the review application of an apex court decision in an action filed by liquidators, had alleged a judge who wrote the unanimous judgment had committed plagiarism.

The review application of the Kian Joo case was however, dismissed by another panel then led by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria.

On Jan 23, 2013, Justice Suriyadi, who led the bench, ruled there was a prima facie case made against them for contempt.

Parties apologised

Today, the court was told that the majority and minority shareholders and the lawyer, S Thisinayagam, had affirmed an affidavit apologising to the court.

Initially only lawyer Thisinayagam, who was represented by T Gunaseelan, conceded the purported contempt, but after a short break all the majority and minority shareholders conceded.

The majority shareholders were represented by lawyers led by Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, while a team of lawyers led by David Gurupatham appeared for the minority shareholders.

Gurupatham in apologising on behalf of the minority shareholders, said that while they supported the review application as with the majority, his clients did not use the words ‘plagiarism’ or ‘biased’ and therefore sought a lighter punishment.

Loke said while the AG’s Chambers was not pressing for a jail sentence for contempt, they are pressing for a severe fine to send out a message.

It was reported that the liquidators Ooi Woon Chee and Ng Kim Tuck wanted to cite them for contempt, but later dropped the move only to see the AG’s Chambers taking over.

The tussle of Lingam and the 24 others versus Ooi and Ng began after a three-man Federal Court panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin delivered their decision in a commercial dispute on Jan 5, 2012.

The dispute concerns an attempt by then Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd (KJCF) managing director See and 23 other majority and minority contributories of the company to block Can-One International from acquiring a 32.9 percent stake in KJCF, which was wound up.

Earlier, lawyer R Thayalan for Lingam told the bench today that he received a call from the senior lawyer asking for an adjournment for this case, as he is still in the United States seeking treatment.