Former Felda chairperson Shahrir Samad is applying to strike out the RM100 million defamation and misrepresentation suit filed by Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd, the company involved in the development of the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City project.

Lawyer Farah Shuhadah Razali for Shahrir told this to reporters after the first case management on the matter came up before High Court registrar Catherine Nicholas in Kuala Lumpur today.

Farah said the reasons for the striking out is there is no basis for Synergy Promenade to name Shahrir and that the filing of the suit did not comply with the court procedure.

She said the company's lawyers are also applying to strike out Shahrir's defence.

"We will make amendments to our statement of defence," she said.

Lawyer Priscilla Tan appeared for Synergy Promenade.

Last June 4, the company upon filing the suit claimed Shahrir had, between November last year and March this year, been making misleading statements about the company.

Besides seeking RM100 million in damages, the company is also seeking an injunction on Shahrir against repeating the statements he had made during that period.

The company did not state what the defamatory statements uttered by Shahrir were, but its lawyers told reporters during the filing that they were not only reported in the mainstream media, but also online, social media and other media as well.

Synergy Promenade is alleged to have owned the Felda headquarters’ land.

Malay daily Berita Harian reported that the transfer of ownership of the land took place when Felda Investment Corporation appointed the company as its main developer.

It was said Felda faced the risk of losing ownership of the prime plots of land along Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, estimated to be worth RM200 million, when it was believed to have been transferred through an allegedly "dubious deal" in 2015.

Following the expose, it was reported that the value of the four land parcels in question may actually be worth four times more than what Felda had sold them for.

On Jan 5, former Felda chairperson Isa Samad had his statement recorded, over several hours, by the Commercial Crime Department at Bukit Aman.

The investigation is being conducted under Section 420 of the Penal Code, for cheating.