VK Lingam RC should call former judge RK Nathan

Dato RK Nathan was chosen by Eusoffe Chin to hear ALL defamation cases. This gave him control over the multi-million dollar defamation cases involving VK Lingam and Vincent Tan Chee Yiuon. The report below from THE SUN , then owned by Vincent , VK, Berjaya and others is one example of how RK Nathan assisted in furthering Messrs VK, VT and Chins' interest.


Disclosure of interest: : The article by MGG Pillai at
http://www.malaysia.net/lists/sangkancil/2000-03/msg00126.html details a possible conflict arising out of a matter involving RK Nathan, Vincent Tan, VK Lingam and me.


From THE SUN, 7 September 1999:

Reporters covering court proceedings were today advised to provide full and fair reports of court proceedings and not to embellish stories with unfair comments.

The admonition by High Court judge Datuk Dr R.K. Nathan came after it was brought to his attention that reporter Shaila Koshy of The Star had reported inaccurately - for the second time.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs in a civil action found it "outrageous" that Shaila's latest story details an allegation of bribery in the application to amend defence by Asian Wall Street Journal correspondent Raphael Pura, who faces a RM40 million libel suit filed by Insas Bhd and Megapolitan Nominees Sdn Bhd.

After close scrutiny of all documents for the proposed amendment, Datuk V. Sivaparanjothi said that "nowhere ... has the defendant or the defendant's counsel alleged bribery or corruption". Sivaparanjothi was referring to Shaila's report headlined Court rejects bid to amend statement of defence on Sept 2.

His application to amend his defence was struck out by the court on Wednesday. Sivaparanjothi said the statement by the reporter in her article "is totally false, untrue and quoted out of context".

"The only inference one can draw from this is that Ms Shaila Koshy had deliberately concocted her own imputations for reasons best known to her," said the lawyer.


On Wednesday, another of plaintiffs' counsel Datuk V.K. Lingam told the court that they will file to initiate contempt proceedings against Shaila for writing an article on an issue yet to be heard and decided by court.

Lingam said that The Star's report on Tuesday by Shaila implied that the amendment had already been allowed.

(Source:Provide full and fair reports, reporters told.
7 September 1999,The Sun)