Former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has failed to obtain Federal Court leave to proceed with an appeal in his 1MDB-linked defamation suit against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

A three-person bench chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat unanimously dismissed the appeal leave bid this morning.

Two years ago, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Apandi's RM10 million lawsuit over a 2019 Malaysiakini article titled “Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia’s on the road to integrity”.

Last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court ruling which stated that Lim's statement was protected by justification and qualified privilege.

Apandi claimed that the article implied, among others, that he was involved in the 1MDB financial scandal, was a person with no morals and integrity, was unethical, and had abused his power when he was attorney-general from July 27, 2015, to June 4, 2018.

Lim Kit Siang (centre) arriving at the Federal Court this morning

Speaking on behalf of fellow apex bench member judges P Nallini and Abu Bakar Jais, Tengku Maimun today ruled that the High Court judge's decision was based on the evaluation of evidence and principle of law.

The top judge ruled that the appellate court below had correctly ruled that Lim had properly relied on the defence of justification and qualified privilege.

"There is nothing novel (about issues of law) that require (further) arguments before the Federal Court," Tengku Maimun said and ordered Apandi to pay RM30,000 in costs to Lim.

Lawyers Liew Teck Huat and Rueben Mathiavaranam represented Apandi while Sangeet Kaur Deo appeared for Lim.

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