The former Umno Youth leader’s lawyers wrote to the Federal Court last month to withdraw their application for leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling in February.
Anwar’s lawyer, J Leela, said the letter was sent to the apex court registry and a copy was extended to them.
“Khairy’s lawyers have also asked us to waive costs for the withdrawal but we are not agreeable,” she told FMT.
Leela said she had written to the court to decide on costs.
On March 7, the legal firm of Messrs Shafee & Co had filed seven questions of law on two separate matters regarding the case.
A month earlier, the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court ruling that Khairy was liable and the RM150,000 in damages awarded to Anwar, now the opposition leader, were not manifestly excessive.
Justice Darryl Goon, who delivered the Court of Appeal ruling, said the defence put up by Khairy to defeat Anwar’s suit had failed.
He said the defence of justification was not made out, whether in total or partially.
“We are also of the view that the trial judge did not err in concluding that the defendant’s (Khairy) defence of qualified privilege was also not made,” said Goon, who sat with Lee Swee Seng and Ghazali Cha.
Anwar, who was represented by Gopal Sri Ram and Leela, was also awarded RM50,000 in costs.
The bench also dismissed Khairy’s appeal to include the defence of fair comment to challenge the suit.
“It was made much too late in the day after the trial was concluded for such an amendment,” he said in awarding another RM10,000 in costs to Anwar.
Goon said the trial judge had taken the impugned statement in the right context, including taking into account the analogy and the figure of speech employed to conclude it was defamatory.
He said the sting was not so much on the words that were actually used but what the ordinary man would infer.
“The inference that may be drawn must be regarded as the natural and ordinary meaning of the words used,” he said.
Khairy, who is now the health minister, made the remarks during a ceramah at Lembah Pantai during the 2008 general election campaign.
Sri Ram had submitted that Khairy defamed Anwar in front of a Malay crowd by depicting him as a homosexual and a person of low morals.
“Khairy was addressing a crowd who understood the context in which the reference against Anwar was made,” he had said.
In his statement of claim, Anwar said Khairy had uttered that the then opposition coalition comprising PAS, DAP and PKR “are in a mutaah marriage as practised by the Shia sect”.
“They marry at night and divorce the following day to legitimise a vice. PAS plays DAP from the left and DAP plays PAS from the right. Anwar plays both from the back,” he had quoted Khairy as saying.
He said Khairy was also addressing a Muslim crowd who belonged to the Shafiʽi sect and reference was made to the Shia sect, which was regarded as a deviant group in the country.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram