KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam has removed his social media posts relating to a sexual harassment allegation involving chief Syariah judge Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar from his Facebook and YouTube accounts.

       Mohd Na'im's lawyer Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader said the removal was done within 24 hours as ordered by the High Court on Jan 20, upon his client obtaining an interim ex-parte injunction order from the court.

       The lawyer also said that Justice Rozana Ali Yusoff allowed Mohd Na’im’s application for the ex-parte injunction order to be extended until an inter-parte hearing is held on March 22.

       “Monday (Feb 7) was initially fixed for the inter-parte hearing, but it was postponed due to Lokman’s lawyer asking for more time to file an affidavit-in-reply to the injunction application," said Akberdin when contacted.

       “Therefore, the court allowed for the interim ex-parte injunction order to be extended until then,” he added.

       The court also ordered for the defendant (Lokman) to file his affidavit-in-reply by Feb 11.

       In Monday's proceedings conducted via Zoom, Lokman was represented by lawyer Fazilah Jaafar.

       On Jan 17, Mohd Na’im filed the suit against Lokman, alleging that Lokman had defamed him by making a statement during two Facebook Live sessions on the “Lokman Noor Adam Official” account on Jan 10 and 13.

       The allegations against the judge was on sexual harassment on several women, including a “Datin”.

       The plaintiff claimed that the defendant uploaded the live sessions on his YouTube channel on Jan 10 and 14 and also uploaded three posts against him on Facebook on Jan 11 and 13.

       Mohd Na’im said the defamatory statement had meant to, among others, paint him as a person who manipulated religion, a person who failed to be a credible leader with good morals, and had tarnished the image of the Syariah judiciary department as an institution.

       He claimed the live sessions and posts had been spread to third parties and the defendant’s Facebook and YouTube accounts could be viewed and commented on by the public.

       He further claimed the defendant made the defamatory statements with intention for the same statements to be published locally and internationally through print and electronic media.

       Mohd Na’im said a police report was lodged on Dec 12, 2021, to deny the allegations from the ‘Datin’ against him and he had also lodged a police report against Lokman.

       The plaintiff issued a letter of demand dated Jan 13 against the defendant for the latter to retract his defamatory statement, delete the Facebook posts and to apologise publicly within 24 hours. However, until today, the defendant had remained silent.

       As a result, the plaintiff claimed the defamatory statements had tarnished his reputation and his image, and demeaned his integrity and status in the eyes of the public.

       He is seeking for a court order for the defendant to take down the video and posts as well as an injunction to restrain the defendant from republishing the posts as well as an apology.

       The plaintiff wants general damages in an amount to be assessed by the court, as well as exemplary (RM10mil), aggravated (RM10mil) and punitive damages (RM10mil), amounting to RM30mil, with interests and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

       The issue first came to light when a woman lodged a police report against a top Syariah judge, implicating him with allegations of sexual harassment that allegedly took place at her own home.