KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has ordered Datuk Lokman Noor Adam to file his statement of defence in Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's defamation suit with regard to the latter’s Covid-19 vaccination status by March 3.

       When contacted by reporters, lawyer Norfazilah Jaafar, representing Lokman as the defendant, said that the court also ordered the plaintiff (Khairy) to file an affidavit in reply to the defendant's statement on March 17.

       "Also, both parties (plaintiff and defendant) must file an interlocutory application (if any) on March 21,” she said after the online case management proceedings (e-Review) before Deputy Registrar Puteri Nursheila Rahimi on Monday (Feb 28).

       On Feb 17, the High Court allowed Khairy's application for the ex-parte injunction he obtained on Feb 3, to be extended until the inter-parte injunction is heard on May 10.

       Khairy on Jan 25, filed a defamation suit against Lokman seeking an injunction order for the defendant to delete the statements and videos along with captions, titles and comments within 24 hours, and an injunction restraining him from republishing the posts.

       He also requested the defendant to remove the defamatory statements republished on all news portals as well as social media accounts within 24 hours.

       Based on the statement of claim, Khairy, 46, who is also Rembau MP, filed the suit in his personal capacity claiming that Lokman had defamed him through two videos and a picture uploaded on the Facebook page “Lokman Noor Adam Official” on Jan 6, besides making the statement through two live broadcasts on the same Facebook page and YouTube page “Lokman Adam” on Jan 10.

       The plaintiff claimed that the defamatory statements implied that he had lied and deceived the public regarding his vaccination status.

       According to the plaintiff, the defamatory publications had caused his reputation and integrity to be severely damaged and reduced the public's trust and confidence in him either through personal and professional capacity as well as causing his reputation to be degraded among the sane community. - Bernama