KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — The High Court today granted an inter partes injunction in favour of businessman Datuk Seri R. Jeyenderan in his defamation suit against rapper Caprice.
Judge Roslan Mat Nor, who allowed the application, also ordered Caprice, whose real name is Ariz Ramli, to pay RM8,000 in costs to Jeyenderan within two weeks. The court then set December 1 for a case management conference.
Earlier, the court heard submissions from the plaintiff’s counsels, V. Muniandy, Fiona Aurelia Culas and Muhammad Afiq Yahawa, as well as counsel Muhammad Amar Shaaruddin, representing Caprice.
On August 5, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed an ad interim injunction sought by Jeyenderan against Caprice and ordered the defendant to immediately remove all defamatory posts about the plaintiff from his Instagram account, which were uploaded in July.
An ad interim injunction is a temporary court order granted before a full hearing, often based on the request of one party alone. In contrast, an inter partes hearing is one where the court hears arguments from both sides before making a decision.
Jeyenderan, the chief executive officer of a shipping company, filed the suit on July 21, claiming that on July 10, the defendant had made several posts on Instagram.
The posts included photographs and videos of him, allegedly linking him to criminal activities, gangsterism and armed threats, without any credible evidence.
Based on his statement of claim, the plaintiff asserted that the defamatory posts were intended to create suspicion, public hatred and social pressure against him, and that the defendant had never contacted him or his representatives to seek verification or clarification before publishing such serious allegations.
He contended that the defendant’s actions clearly demonstrated no intent to provide fair and accurate information, but rather to tarnish his name and reputation, noting that the defendant commands significant influence on Instagram with over 1.5 million followers.
Jeyenderan alleged that as a result of the publications, his reputation as a global shipping and maritime expert was damaged.
He claimed this led to special damages of RM1 million after he lost several keynote speaking contracts in Dubai, Turkey and India, which had been offered by a Dubai-based company.
On July 15, his solicitors issued a letter of demand to the defendant, which was subsequently rejected by the defendant.
The plaintiff is seeking RM3 million in damages for reputational harm, special damages, general damages and exemplary damages, along with costs and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
He is also applying for an injunction to prevent the defendant from making further defamatory statements, to compel the removal of all defamatory content, and to require a public apology across all social media accounts owned or controlled by the defendant. — Bernama
