Manjeet Singh Dhillon, who is a former Malaysian Bar president, and the law firm, Messrs Americk Sidhu, want Adnan to settle RM214,825 plus 8% interest on the principal sum.
In the suit filed on Jan 11, the plaintiffs want interest to be calculated from Aug 11 (last year) until the judgment sum is settled. They are also seeking costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
Adnan is contesting the suit, saying he has already paid Manjeet RM210,000 for acting as his solicitor. Hearing has been fixed for April 26 before Sessions Court judge Nurul Husna Awang.
In the statement of claim, Manjeet said Adnan appointed him as solicitor on Nov 18, 2014 to act against Utusan Melayu Sdn Bhd for publishing a defamatory article in its Sunday edition a week earlier.
Later, with the consent of the menteri besar, lawyer Americk Sidhu, from the legal firm, was included in the team to fight the case.
The plaintiffs, in the legal papers sighted by FMT, said all court papers were prepared and the trial was fixed between July and September 2015.
About two weeks before the trial, Utusan’s lawyers filed an action to strike out the suit on the grounds that Adnan had no legal standing to bring the action.
The High Court dismissed the action but the publisher successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal.
They said the matter then went to the Federal Court and the judges remitted the case to go on trial in the High Court.
However, the suit was settled out of court on Aug 7 last year.
The legal firm then sent a bill to Adnan for appearance in the Federal Court, which was paid.
The plaintiffs said they later also prepared another bill for their appearance in the High Court and Court of Appeal. However, they said, Adnan refused to settle the RM214,825 despite repeated reminders.
Adnan, in his defence filed on March 5, denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and said the onus was on them to prove their case.
In the alternative, he said, he was prepared to settle an amount that was reasonable and would not allow the plaintiffs to “enrich themselves unjustly” and take advantage of his position as menteri besar.
Adnan said the claim was also not genuine under the law.
The menteri besar said he did not appoint the legal firm and as such it did not have the legal standing to sue him.
“My agreement on the legal fees is only with the first plaintiff (Manjeet),” he said in the defence filed by his solicitors, Messrs Shamsuddin & Co.
Adnan said it was Manjeet who appointed the legal firm to assist him.
He said the RM210,000 he had paid was to cover the entire proceedings from the High Court to Federal Court.
Adnan said the additional RM214,825 in fees was not agreed upon with Manjeet as the defamation suit was finally settled out of court without a trial.
He said he did not receive any notice from the plaintiffs and there were no discussions or agreement reached after his suit did not proceed in court.
Adnan said there was only an agreement that the fruit of litigation would be shared on a 50:50 basis if the publisher was found liable and the court had ordered damages.