High Court orders exco member to pay ex-rep RM3,000 in costs

In a recent legal development, Perak executive councillor A Sivanesan has been ordered by the Tapah High Court to pay costs of RM3,000 to former Penang assemblyman Satees Muniandy. The order was made following Sivanesan's lawsuit against Muniandy over a TikTok video uploaded last June, which Sivanesan claims is defamatory. Satees, who represented Bagan Dalam assemblyman for a single term, argued that the court should hear the dispute in Butterworth sessions court as he resides in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

Sivanesan's claim asserts that Muniandy's video implied that he was unfit to hold public office, including his role as executive councillor overseeing the Indian community and Hindu religious affairs in Perak. The councillor is seeking a court order to prevent further publishing or sharing of allegedly defamatory material about him and wants the video removed.

Additionally, Sivanesan is requesting general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, as well as front-page retractions and apologies in three Tamil-language newspapers, and an apology video on TikTok by Muniandy's account @satees_urimai, which should remain online for a month with the account kept public.