BTS : Aussie court lifts gag on Vincent Tan's dealings
Yap Yok Foo
16th October 2000
Aussie court lifts gag on Vincent Tan's dealings
Judge: Fair Trading Act not meant for defamation action
THE Supreme Court here has struck down a "gag order" preventing a
freelance journalist from exposing the business dealings of Malaysian
tycoon, Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on
Saturday.
Justice David Levine, the chief judge for defamation, cancelled an
injunction granted in February restraining journalist Ganesh
Sahathevan from distributing information about Mr Tan's troubled
Berjaya Group, whose interests in Australia include listed Carlovers'
Carwash Ltd, the Video Ezy video-rental chain, and Sydney's World
Square building site.
Mr Ganesh was sued for defamation and "injurious falsehood" after he
sent e-mail to business journalists in Australia and Malaysia making
allegations about Carlovers -- which has been suspended from the stock
exchange after failing to produce an annual report.
He also sent a copy to company executives, seeking comment.
Mr Tan's Berjaya Group has been hit hard by the Asian economic crisis.
It has assets of about RM5 billion (S$2.3 billion) and employs 25,000
people.
The injunction was granted under the Fair Trading Act to prevent Mr
Ganesh from damaging Mr Tan's business interests. The Press Council
protested, and the Minister for Fair Trading, John Watkins, intervened
in the case, arguing that "we do not want consumer protection
legislation used as a de facto gag on the media".
Justice Levine ruled that Mr Ganesh was a "prescribed information
provider" under the act, and thus exempt from its provisions.
He agreed with an earlier judgment that said: "The Fair Trading Act
was never meant to be a substitute for actions for defamation. . .the
court should (not allow its use) for a purpose for which it was never
intended."
He dismissed an argument that Mr Ganesh was "trying to put the
frighteners" on Mr Tan to influence the result of an unfair dismissal
case he had brought after being sacked last year from Berjaya's
Malaysian newspaper, The Sun.
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg
==================
>Ooops, missed this on Saturday
>I normally look under world and this appeared in national
>From Sydney Morning Herald
Court lifts the gag on tycoon expose
Date: 14/10/2000
By BEN HILLS
The Supreme Court has struck down a "gag order" preventing a freelance
journalist from exposing the business dealings of Malaysia's
wealthiest tycoon, Mr Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.
Yesterday, Justice David Levine, the chief judge in defamation,
cancelled an injunction granted in February restraining journalist
Ganesh Sahathevan from distributing information about Mr Tan's
troubled Berjaya Group, whose interests in Australia include the
listed Carlovers' Carwash Ltd, the Video Ezy video-rental chain, and
Sydney's World Square building site.
Mr Sahathevan was sued for defamation and "injurious falsehood" after
he sent emails to business journalists in Australia and Malaysia
making allegations about Carlovers - which is suspended from the Stock
Exchange after failing to produce an annual report. He sent a copy to
company executives, seeking comment.
Mr Tan is a close friend of Malaysia's Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir
Mohamad, and head of the Berjaya Group, which has been hit hard by the
Asian economic crisis. The company has assets of about $5 billion and
employs 25,000 people.
The injunction was granted under the Fair Trading Act to prevent Mr
Sahathevan damaging Mr Tan's business interests. The Press Council
protested, and the Minister for Fair Trading, Mr Watkins, intervened
in the case, arguing that "we do not want consumer protection
legislation used as a de facto gag on the media".
Mr Sahathevan's counsel, Ms Judith Gibson, argued that it was an
important press freedom case, because if injunctions could be used in
this way it would "place every whistle-blower and every source at
risk". She said her client had claimed that Carlovers had made false
and misleading statements to the Stock Exchange.
In an affidavit, the managing director of Carlovers, Mr Andrew Kok
Leng Teh, strongly denied the allegations.
Yesterday, Justice Levine ruled that Mr Sahathevan was a "prescribed
information provider" under the act, and thus exempt from its
provisions. He agreed with an earlier judgment that: "The Fair Trading
Act was never meant to be a substitute for actions for defamation ...
the court should (not allow its use) for a purpose for which it was
never intended."
He dismissed an argument that Mr Sahathevan was "trying to put the
frighteners" on Mr Tan to influence the result of an unfair dismissal
case he had brought after being sacked last year from Berjaya's
Malaysian newspaper, the Sun. Justice Levine said it was "an urban
myth" that a journalist should be ethically prevented from writing
about something in which he had a great interest, adding that such a
prohibition "would come as a great shock to Mr Robert Hughes, Mr
Phillip Adams, Mr Leo Schofield and Mr Piers Ackerman, for example".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0010/14/text/national4.html
**************From Uncle Yap**************
The Malaysian News & Discussion Group
=====================================
Read or subscribe to this group at http://www.eGroups.com/list/beritamalaysia/
To subscribe by e-mail, send e-mail to
beritamalays...@egroups.com
To unsubscribe by e-mail, send e-mail to
beritamalaysi...@egroups.com
Just The Malaysian News
=======================
To subscribe:just send blank e-mail to bmalaysia...@onelist.com
To unsubscribe: bmalaysia-...@onelist.com
Once registered and subscribed, you will get the daily articles about Malaysia delivered to your e-mail box