NFC gets leave to appeal nominal award against Public Bank
The National Feedlot Corporation and three others are appealing the Court of Appeal’s award of RM10,000 in damages in its multi-million ringgit suit against Public Bank.
PUTRAJAYA: The National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) and three others have secured leave from the Federal Court to appeal a lower court’s award of nominal damages in a RM560 million suit brought against Public Bank.
The appeal will be heard together with the bank’s appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling last year which found it liable for breach of statutory duty and confidentiality, but allowed only RM10,000 in damages.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member bench led by Justice Hasnah Hashim, both parties were allowed to pursue their respective appeals.
“We are allowing leave based on two legal questions from each of the applicants,” said Hasnah when delivering the decision.
Also on the bench hearing the application were Justices Abu Bakar Jais and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
Under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, applicants are required to show that there are novel legal and constitutional questions of public importance and being raised for the first time which must be determined.
The bench also fixed the appeals for case management on May 14 so that they can be disposed of expeditiously.
In today’s proceedings, lawyers Shafee Abdullah, Noor Farhah Mustaffa, Sarah Abishegam and Umi Nafesah Mohd appeared for NFC, its chairman Salleh Ismail, and subsidiary companies National Meat & Livestock Corporation Sdn Bhd and Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd.
Salleh is the husband of former Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Lawyers KK Chan and Poh Choo Hoe appeared for the bank.
On Aug 30 last year, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was a serious misapprehension of evidence on the part of the High Court which warranted appellate intervention.
Justice S Nantha Balan, who delivered the judgment on behalf of the three-member bench, said the High Court had ignored vital evidence in coming to his decision.
He said the trial judge should have given due consideration to the testimony of the bank’s head of investigation audit, Veronica Foo, before a domestic inquiry panel.
Nantha Balan also said the court should have taken into account the bank’s stance vis-à-vis the charge of serious misconduct against former clerk Johari Mohamed.
However, the appeals court bench, which also comprised Justices Azizah Nawawi and P Ravinthran, only awarded nominal damages to NFC, Salleh and the two companies on grounds that they had failed to adduce evidence to prove the losses suffered as a result.
Initiated by NFC, Salleh and the two companies in 2012, the suit alleged that the bank had breached confidentiality by allowing then PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli to secure details of banking transactions. Rafizi is the economy minister in the current administration.
The plaintiffs claimed their business reputation and credibility suffered irreparable loss and damage due to various breaches by the bank of its statutory duties under the now-repealed Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989.
They also claimed that the information, obtained on Feb 16, 2012, was used by Rafizi on March 7 of the same year to bolster allegations that they had leveraged a government loan to buy eight KL Eco City properties.