Ex-senator’s breach of promise counterclaim against MRCB man reinstated

The Court of Appeal today allowed former senator Daljit Singh the opportunity to have his breach of promise counterclaim heard with Salim Fateh Din’s defamation suit.

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has reinstated former senator and businessman Daljit Singh’s counterclaim for breach of promise against MRCB executive vice-chairman Salim Fateh Din.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Mariana Yahya said the counterclaim disclosed a reasonable cause of action and should not have been struck out summarily by the High Court.

Also on the panel were Justices Hashim Hamzah and Faizah Jamaludin.

“This is not a plain and obvious case for the High Court to strike out,” Mariana said.

Following today’s ruling, both Salim’s defamation suit and Daljit’s counterclaim will be heard together before Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain.

In today’s proceedings, lawyer Harjinder Singh appeared for Daljit, while Dhinesh Bhaskaran represented Salim, who is chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and a member of both the Consultation and Corruption Prevention Board and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Salim filed the defamation suit in June last year.

In his statement of claim, Salim said Daljit, had on April 24, 2021, uttered and published the defamatory words “Salim cheated me” to lawyer Selva Kumar Mookiah in Bahasa Malaysia.

He said Daljit followed this up with a text message about Salim to Selva the following morning.

Salim said that on April 27, 2023, Daljit also uttered and published another defamatory statement that was sent to then managing editor of the Vibes, Terence Fernandez.

Salim said the statements implied he was a cheat, fraudster, liar and untrustworthy, and had engaged in illegal and immoral activities.

Salim said Daljit had injured his reputation and good name, and is seeking damages and an injunction from repeating the publication.

Meanwhile, Daljit is relying on the defence of justification and qualified privilege.

He also brought the counterclaim stating that the alleged defamatory statements had been taken out of context.

Daljit went on to say that Salim approached him in 2015 to set up a meeting with then tourism and culture minister Nazri Aziz, who was Daljit’s close friend.

He said Salim was interested in taking over a piece of government property on Jalan Conlay in Kuala Lumpur, which was occupied by Karyaneka, for redevelopment by MRCB.

Daljit claimed he was promised 2% of the acquisition price as a facilitation and consultancy fee by Salim.

However, he said the government later awarded the land to Hedgeland Realty Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Salim.

Daljit said the Barisan Nasional government lost power in the 2018 general election, adding that the new Pakatan Harapan government terminated the acquisition at the request of Hedgeland Realty and returned the down payment of RM18.5 million.

Daljit said Salim had refused a payment promised previously.