Court allows MAS suit and Tajudin counterclaim
(The Malaysian Insider) – The High Court ruled today that both Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) claim against Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli as well as his counter-claim against the government and the national carrier will go on.
Tajudin (picture), who was the executive chairman of the airline from 1994 to 2001, had applied to cancel MAS’s suit over allegations he abused his position and concealed his interests in business decisions made during his watch.
Putrajaya also sought to strike out Tajudin’s counterclaim, in which he alleges the government and MAS defamed him with the civil suit for abuse of power while heading the flag carrier.
Trial judge Rosilah Yop dismissed both applications after meeting lawyers for both parties in chambers for just under an hour.
“Both applications to strike out were dismissed with cost,” Tajudin’s counsel Lim Kian Leong told reporters.
He also said Rosilah did not comment on the merits of each application as striking out a suit is “all technical.”
“The test is whether it’s plain and obvious. Not on the merits of the case,” he added.
But Tajudin and MAS are also expected to finalise an “out-of-court” settlement by May 10 after the Court of Appeal decided on February 16 to allow both parties to “settle negotiations.”
MAS has accused Tajudin of unconscionable conduct by using his influence to continue the VIP chartering service with the purchase of a Boeing 737 Business Jet for US$31 million (RM93.5 million) in 1997, despite MAS suffering losses.
The airline also claimed that Tajudin had dishonestly concealed his interests in Cendanasari Insurance Brokers Sdn Bhd, in matters involving a parcel of land in Langkawi and a luxury yacht, Colombo Star.
The Kedah-born businessman has in turn claimed that the suit contains bare allegations with no basis and MAS had acted with malice and in bad faith in taking legal action against him to embarrass and tarnish his reputation.
The matter will now be heard by Rosilah on March 12.
Last month, Tajudin settled out of court his debt owed to Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd (Danaharta) and several other government-linked companies (GLCs) for an undisclosed sum of money.
Tajudin has been entangled in a complicated series of expensive suits, countersuits and appeals with various parties arising from his failure to service a billion ringgit loan he took to purchase a major stake in MAS in 1994.
He has claimed that his purchase was a forced “national service”, disguised as an arm’s length commercial deal, because the government wanted to appease the investment community and the public.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, however, denied in his autobiography published in March last year that he and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin had forced Tajudin to bail out MAS in 1994 for RM1.8 billion.
Last August, Putrajaya intervened and commenced action to put an end to the controversial legal battle by ordering all suits against Tajudin to be dropped.
The move has been described as an attempt by the government to cover-up details found in Tajudin’s affidavit in support of his counter-claim where the embattled tycoon purportedly revealed much of the inner workings behind the purchase of MAS.
According to media reports, Tajudin had also claimed of an over-riding agreement protecting him from liabilities.
The 65-year-old was a poster boy of Daim’s now-discredited policy of nurturing a class of Malay corporate captains on government largesse during the Mahathir administration.
