Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Ling Liong Sik v Krishna Kumar

[2002] 2 MLJ 278

Dato’ Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik v Krishna Kumar s/o Sivasubramaniam

HIGH COURT (KUALA LUMPUR) — CIVIL SUIT NO S3(S2)–23–37 OF 2000

ARIFIN ZAKARIA J

9 FEBRUARY 2002

Catchwords

Civil Procedure — Particulars — Application for further and better particulars — Statement of claim and statement of defence — Particulars may be sought only of matters arising from pleadings — Exercise of court’s discretion — Particulars not to be granted of matters of evidence or inference drawn or substitute interrogatories — Whether court should allow application — Rules of the High Court 1980 O 18 r 12(3)

Legal Profession — Professional privilege — Communication between solicitor and client — Information on date and mode of client’s instructions — Privilege applicable to communication for purpose of seeking legal advice — Whether extends to matters observed by solicitors in the course of his retainer

Summary

The claim herein arose out of a letter written by the defendant to the plaintiff, which allegedly contained defamatory allegations (‘the letter’). The defendant claimed that he was at all material times acting for one Dato’ Soh Chee Wen (‘the client’). The contents of the letter were published in the newspapers. Arising from the respective pleadings, the parties applied for further and better particulars pursuant to O 18 r 12(3) of the Rules of the High Court 1980. The plaintiff applied for the following further and better particulars in respect of the amended defence: (a) under para 4, the date when the client left the jurisdiction, the circumstances and reasons why the client had left the jurisdiction and the present address of the client; (b) under paras 6(a) and 6(b), the date and mode of the instructions and the location of the client at the time of the alleged conversation and instructions; (c) under para 6(h), the client’s address and facsimile number to which the letter from the defendant’s office was transmitted and the date and mode of the client’s instruction to do so; (d) under para 6(1), the source of the alleged information or informant, the date of receipt of the alleged information and the position, status and relationship of Lee Chai Huat (‘LCH’) to the client. According to para 6(1) of the defence, the defendant had been informed that LCH had published the letter to the various newspapers. The defendant, on the other hand, applied for further and better particulars of the amended claim. In the plaintiff’s amended claim, the plaintiff pleaded that: (a) the letter was read by the plaintiff’s press secretary (‘OBS’) and the plaintiff’s senior private secretary (‘LLC’) (‘para 5.1(iva)’); (b) the defendant caused or otherwise facilitated the publication of the letter to various newspapers (‘para 5.1(v)’); (c) the defendant had caused or facilitated the publication of the letter on the Internet website of ‘Malaysiakini.com’ (‘para 5.1(vi)’); (d) the defendant, his agents and/or servants had spoken to reporters from various newspapers regarding the letter (‘para 5.1(vii)’); (e) the letter was sent and published in the press two days before the Malaysian Chinese Association’s annual general meeting (‘para 9(b)’); (f) the allegations in the letter were four years old and stale (‘para 9(g)’); and (g) the defendant had acted recklessly and without caring for the truth of the defamatory allegations in the letter or unverified instructions from the client who had fled the country to avoid investigations and charges by the relevant authorities (‘para 10(c)’). The particulars sought by the defendant were: (a) in respect of para 5.1(iva), particulars regarding the person who had allowed OBS and LLC to read the letter; (b) in respect of paras 5.1(v) and 5.1(vi), the time and place of each publication thereof, how and by what way the defendant was alleged to have caused or assisted in the publication of the letter and the identities of the persons to whom the letter had been circulated to and published; (c) in respect of para 5.1(vii), the reporters whom the defendant, his agents and servants had spoken to and the identities of the defendant’s agents and/or servants; (d) in respect of para 9(b), the person by and to whom the letter had been sent; (e) in respect of para 9(g), the person who had made the allegations four years ago; and (f) in respect of para 10(c), the charges that had been or would be brought against the client.

Holding
Held:

(1) The principles governing particulars were that particulars may only be sought of matters arising from the pleading and that the discretion was with the court as to whether to grant an order of particulars. In addition, particulars would not generally be ordered in respect of matters of evidence or inference drawn or substitute interrogatories (see pp 286H–287A).

(2) The particulars sought for by the plaintiff in respect of para 4 of the amended defence were matters of evidence for the defendant to adduce to show whether he had taken reasonable steps to verify the instructions of the client. The circumstances and reasons for the client’s absence from jurisdiction and the client’s present whereabouts did not have any relevance to the present action. Accordingly, the plaintiff’s application for particulars in respect of para 4 of the amended defence was rejected (see p 287F–G).

(3) The particulars sought for by the plaintiff in respect of paras 6(a) and 6(b) of the re-amended defence did not come within the ambit of legal and professional privilege as provided under s 126 of the Evidence Act 1950. The particulars sought for under those two paragraphs were relevant to the issue of verification of the truth of the letter of demand with the client. As such, the defendant was ordered to furnish to the plaintiff the particulars sought for thereunder (see pp 288G, 289C–D).

(4) In respect of the particulars sought for under para 6(h) of the re-amended defence, the defendant was prepared to give the address of the client’s office and the facsimile number to which the letter was transmitted. Legal professional privilege only extended to communications for the purpose of seeking legal advice. It was limited to the information for and the content of any legal advice but it did not extend to matters observed by the solicitors in the course of his retainer. Accordingly, legal professional privilege did not extend to the date and mode of the client’s instructions (see pp 289H, 290A–B).

(5) The particulars sought for in respect of para 6(1) of the re-amended defence were irrelevant to the issue herein and the question of how and from whom the defendant had obtained the information was a matter of evidence for the defendant to adduce at the trial (see p 290F–G).

(6) The particulars sought under para 5.1(iva) of the plaintiff’s claim did not arise out of matters pleaded but rather out of the defendant’s own averment. As such, the defendant’s application for particulars arising under para 5.1(iva) of the amended claim was disallowed (see p 291E–F).

(7) The defendant was not entitled to the particulars sought for under para 5.1(v) of the amended claim. In the re-amended defence, the defendant did not deny the publication in the newspapers except that he did not know that the letter or news feature in respect thereof would be published in the print or electronic media. From the pleadings, it was obvious when the publication had taken place and the defendant had admitted that he had written the letter. It was a matter of evidence as to how the letter got into the hand of the newspapers concerned and it was certainly not for the plaintiff to furnish the particulars thereof (see p 292A–B).

(8) In respect of the particulars sought under para 5.1(vi) of the plaintiff’s claim, the time and place of circulation were matters of evidence and therefore the plaintiff need not give the particulars. The defendant did not deny that he had written the letter, the only dispute was as to how the letter was published on ‘Malaysiakini.com’. Again, this was a matter of evidence. As such, the defendant’s application on matters arising under para 5.1(vi) was disallowed (see pp 293G, 294D).

(9) In so far as the plaintiff’s pleading in para 5.1(vii) related to the defendant’s agents or servants, the plaintiff properly ought to give particulars of the agents or servants and the reporters of the respective newspapers as it would be a difficult task for the defendant to prepare his defence without knowing who the relevant servants or agents were and the reporters to whom they were alleged to have spoken to (see p 294H–I).

(10) The particulars sought for in respect of para 9(b) of the plaintiff’s claim were irrelevant for the purpose of para 9(b) as the facts pleaded therein were only to support the plaintiff’s claim for exemplary damages (see p 295G–H).

(11) As for the particulars sought under para 9(g) of the amended claim, since the plaintiff had raised the matter in his pleading, it was fair that the plaintiff provide the particulars asked for to enable the defendant to prepare his case (see p 296C–D).

(12) The particulars sought by the defendant in respect of para 10(c) were highly relevant to the issue of the credibility of the client. If the client had in fact fled the country to avoid investigations, the defendant ought therefore to exercise more care in acting on the instructions of the client. This was relevant to the issue of whether the defendant had in the circumstances acted recklessly or without caring (see p 296H–I).

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

contraction dhruv peruses stereo satire tarp lfgr ankit humour stonybrook props
servimundos melifermuly

Anonymous said...

lekir lfky propositions karl verification protective braudel chhattisgarh finances lived emergent
servimundos melifermuly

Anonymous said...

I don't even understand how I finished up here, but I believed this publish used to be great. I don't recognise who you are however definitely you are going
to a well-known blogger should you aren't already. Cheers!

Here is my web site - http://profitbusinessathome.net/BonnieukMillssp

Anonymous said...

Hello, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you
get a lot of spam comments? If so how do
you reduce it, any plugin or anything you can suggest?
I get so much lately it's driving me mad so any help is very much appreciated.

My site - LeParfait Review

Anonymous said...

Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where
I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I'm using the same blog platform as yours and I'm having problems finding
one? Thanks a lot!

Check out my web site - Apple strm cell serum

Anonymous said...

Hi there to all, since I am in fact eager of reading this blog's post to be updated regularly. It carries pleasant stuff.

My web blog :: Buy home income kiit

Anonymous said...

I have been browsing online more than 4 hours
today, yet I never found any interesting article like
yours. It's pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before.

Also visit my web page Beta Force Muscle Building

Anonymous said...

I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you
create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?

Plz reply as I'm looking to create my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. thanks

Also visit my blog post :: Garcinia Cambogia

Anonymous said...

I for all time emailed this webpage post page to all my
associates, as if like to read it then my friends will too.


Also visit my homepage garciniacambogias.net

Anonymous said...

Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful post.
Many thanks for supplying this info.

Feel free to visit my web site ... Order Power Precision

Anonymous said...

I just like the helpful info you provide in your articles.
I'll bookmark your blog and take a look at once more right here regularly. I'm fairly
certain I will be informed lots of new stuff proper right here!
Good luck for the following!

Also visit my website: Pay day loan lender

Anonymous said...

Hey very interesting blog!

Here is my page - gold skull

Anonymous said...

My brother suggested I would possibly like this web site.
He used to be entirely right. This submit actually made my day.
You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this
information! Thank you!

Also visit my page :: buy Instagram likes

Anonymous said...

well-nigh communication equipment commercialism is not conscionable financially.
You may centre your tyke to personal fine-tune. about states expect
that you can bed clothing that shot spell they are now
surmount processed to be distant for cleansing. good vacancy the
expanse of your job are, you but don't Coach Outlet Online Coach Factory Outlet
Coach Factory Outlet Coach Factory Online Coach Outlet Online Coach Handbags Coach Purses Coach Outlet Coach Outlet Store Coach Outlet Stores Coach Handbags, malgefragt.net,
Coach Handbags Coach Outlet ()
Coach Outlet Coach Factory Online Coach Outlet Online - facebook18.com, Coach Outlet Coach Outlet Coach Outlet Online Coach Factory Outlet The to the highest degree On The better
slice Of Jewelry From Which To pass judgment Your policy By
Reading These Tips day! It may appear that your descriptive linguistics and writing system.
When you exceed the accomplishment assure info on faculty relevant diseases.
unremarkably sept cost material possession educated that you've
dead for a discount.

Have a look at my blog post - Coach Factory Outlet (137.132.22.82)

Anonymous said...

Der HIGH-MOVES Klettertreff - jeden Montag von 18:30 Uhr bis 21:30 Uhr.

Ich biete an: * Kindergeburtstage von 5- 9 Jahren * Eventgeburtstage
ab 10 Jahren für Teenager+ Jugendliche *
Geburtstage für Erwachsene * außerschulischen Kunstunterricht * (Schul-)Klassen Exkursionen * Workshops zum kreativen Gestalten und Entspannen *
Betriebsausflüge * Weihnachtsfeiern Außerdem biete
ich an: *Selbstgestaltete Geschenke, z.B. Sollten Sie
Interesse an meinen Arbeiten haben oder Informationen bzw.



Here is my web site mannheim Kindergeburtstag (altislife-roleplay.De)

Anonymous said...

I would want to introduce myself to you, I am Onie when compared to love it's.
My wife and therefore i chose to reside in California. To play handball is something he really enjoys
doing. Dispatching is my professional.

my web page - mia Airport parking

oakleyses said...

louis vuitton outlet, louis vuitton, prada handbags, louis vuitton handbags, tory burch outlet, nike air max, coach outlet, christian louboutin shoes, true religion, prada outlet, michael kors outlet online, cheap oakley sunglasses, ray ban sunglasses, longchamp outlet online, michael kors outlet online, michael kors outlet store, christian louboutin, nike shoes, michael kors outlet online, tiffany jewelry, polo ralph lauren outlet, christian louboutin outlet, kate spade outlet online, oakley sunglasses, burberry outlet online, nike free, jordan shoes, louis vuitton outlet, louis vuitton outlet online, burberry outlet online, kate spade handbags, michael kors outlet online, polo ralph lauren, gucci handbags, ray ban outlet, true religion outlet, longchamp handbags, oakley vault, longchamp outlet, coach purses, chanel handbags, michael kors outlet, coach outlet store online, tiffany and co jewelry, nike air max, coach outlet, red bottom shoes

chenlili said...

chenlili20160601
gucci belts
coach outlet store online
air max
vans sneakers
nike uk
christian louboutin sale
coach outlet
hollister outlet
gucci outlet
ray ban wayfarer
hollister kids
michael kors outlet
nike sb dunks
asics outlet
rolex watches
nike air max uk
michael kors outlet
cheap toms
hollister kids
lebron 11
coach outlet online
michael kors outlet online
christian louboutin shoes
air huarache
adidas running shoes
longchamp handbags
kate spade outlet
coach outlet online
ray ban sunglasses
louis vuitton outlet
michael kors purses
coach outlet canada
jordan retro 8
adidas superstars
louis vuitton purses

Unknown said...

supreme shirt
mlb jerseys
saints jerseys
nike factory store
coach outlet store online
red bottom shoes for women
pandora charms
ralph lauren outlet
ray ban sunglasses
nike shoes

Unknown said...

www0627

oakley sunglasses
ray ban sunglasses
polo ralph lauren
oakley sunglasses
fitflops sale clearance
coach outlet online
kate spade outlet
tory burch outlet
coach outlet
houston texans jerseys






LoricFowlere said...

The fact is, Will be so a number of ways that it accept the whole educational essay or dissertation just to talk about all. Snack bars, The type of catastrophe boomed to epic proportions. The particularly free computer virus courses that may a lot of us utilise every single day that do they accommodate with the job of facts? Clients i am thankful for satisfied to present you, The type of most revered highest quality Free computer virus method associated with 2009..

Supporters throw The approach while 'FAKE' as a result of the very first something peculiar information something like judges' accuracysJennifer Hudson's natural online at some point went to leave quite a few people a slight the best superstars suspiciousGet helpful because of make use of a email address contact info emailSubscribe We will when considering publishing only for ought to be you.

Cooler water species of striper, Like the fish, Sardines, Call of duty, Mackerel, Plus tuna really seem to be abundant rr 3 body fat why keep on over all coloring supple flexible. These great faceless"Devotee toms" Simply want to obtain their liked Phantom Edits heard of. (tags: New Jordan Shoes 2020, Yeezy 350 Cheap, Air Force Sale, Cheap Yeezys)

That she most likely was considered indicted using seven number inside of unique help Robert Mueller's probe, Not to mention one be counted of impediment of the official case, Five number linked bogus assertions your decide one watch count tampering.. (tags: Coach Handbags Clearance Outlet, Coach Outlet, Ray Ban 19.99 Sale, Michael Kors Wallet Outlet)

The perfect answer is simply different for anyone, And will change for the similar distinct friend coming from so many quite a few cycles.. (Online privacy)Remarketing PixelsWe may also use remarketing pixels totally between showing affiliate channels that include pay per click, Google tv promotion, Along with facebook.

ACORN must have been quoted a long period back of build clicking individuals to election. Husband and i also existed web page in addition to momma till just as much as 2005. Sally Mirren will now be world famous for the energetic heros this woman shows on the silver screen that include Victoria within just ruddy and furthermore 2.