Submissions will be exchanged on Aug 7 on blogger Ahiruddin Attan's striking-out application in relation to the defamation suit filed against him by New Straits Times Press (NSTP) and four others.

Justice Mohd Hishamuddin Yunus decided this in chambers at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Jalan Duta this morning. [*]

On Jan 4, NSTP, its deputy chairman Kalimullah Hassan, chief executive officer Syed Faisal Albar, group editor-in-chief Hishamuddin Aun and former group editor Brendan Pereira filed a suit against Ahirudin for defamation and malicious falsehood.

Ahirudin, the former Malay Mail editor who now blogs at Rocky's Bru , filed an application to strike out the amended statement of claims on May 5.

He had wanted to strike out the suit on grounds that it was 'fatally deficient' because the statement did not specifically state which words in his weblog were defamatory to which plaintiff.

Ahirudin has also filed his defence and cited fair comment and justification on May 4. The defence stated that he was "embarrassed" with the inability to respond to the plaintiffs' claims since it was drafted in such a way that he could not decipher what the case was.

It also disclosed further evidence in support of fair comment when he allegedly called Pereira a plagiarist over an article said to have striking similarities with that written by an American journalist. Pereira was New Straits Times group editor before he ended his term of service on Dec 31 last year.

Meanwhile the defence stated that Ahirudin made a fair comment in saying Syed Faisal was responsible for the closure of the Weekend Mail , suspended indefinitely after its Nov 4-5 issue focused on sex and sexual issues. The suspension has since been lifted by the home ministry.

Syed Faisal had apologised unreservedly to the paper's readers for any distress caused by the publication of the articles, admitting that the articles and photographs were "offensive and distasteful".

Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi ( photo ) was also served with a similar sued by sued by NSTP, Kalimullah, Hishamuddin and Pereira.

Ahirudin is due in court on June 19 together with Ooi for the hearing on the latter's request to merge their cases.

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar represented Ahirudin while Rishwant Singh appeared for the plaintiffs.

NOTE: [*] It has been brought to our attention that the matter was actually heard in chambers by Senior Assistant Registrar Raja Noor Adilla Raja Mahyaldin. We apologise for the error. [May 30, 2007]