KUALA LUMPUR - Former economy minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli’s move to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp) director Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail and winding-up proceedings against the company has been amicably resolved.
The matter was confirmed by Rafizi’s lawyer, Razlan Hadri Zulkifli.
The case was scheduled to be heard before High Court Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong today, but the hearing was vacated following a Notice of Discontinuance filed on March 3. The court subsequently struck out the case without an order as to costs.
Rafizi, who is Pandan Member of Parliament. had filed the suit seeking court permission to commence the bankruptcy and winding-up proceedings over alleged failure to settle the remainder of a court-ordered costs.
The court order, stemming from a defamation suit filed against Rafizi, requires payment in damages and costs, excluding interest.
Previously, it was reported that Rafizi had acknowledged payments of RM300,000 by Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp, which were made through their solicitors in December 2022. The exact outstanding amount being pursued by Rafizi was not specified.
However, the defendants had asked for the interest to be set aside due to their "substantial financial liability”. Although the request was rejected by Rafizi's lawyers, the defendants made no further payments.
In 2016, the High Court here ordered Rafizi to pay RM150,000 in damages to Mohamad Salleh and RM50,000 in damages to NFCorp after allowing their suit against him. Rafizi was also ordered to pay RM100,000 in costs to Mohamad Salleh.
In 2019, the Court of Appeal allowed Rafizi's appeal and ordered damages of RM200,000 and costs of RM100,000 that had been paid to Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp previously to be returned to Rafizi.
The court also awarded a further RM110,000 in costs at the appeal stage.
The decision was later upheld by the Federal Court in April 2022, which also ordered costs of RM70,000 to be paid to Rafizi. - BERNAMA