KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has granted rapper Caprice until October 2 to file his defence statement in a defamation lawsuit initiated by entrepreneur Muhammad Asyraf Khalid.
Lawyer Abdul Hakeem Aiman, representing Muhammad Asyraf, confirmed that Justice Datuk Anand Ponnudurai also scheduled October 16 for his client to file a reply to the defence statement.
The court set October 17 for case management following today’s proceedings.
Caprice raised no objections to the plaintiff’s injunction application during the case management session.
Justice Anand had previously ordered the rapper on August 18 to archive 31 allegedly defamatory posts against Muhammad Asyraf that were uploaded to his Instagram account.
The court issued the order after approving Muhammad Asyraf’s application for an ex parte ad-interim injunction.
Muhammad Asyraf, who is the stepson of national songstress Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin, filed the suit on August 4.
The 33-year-old entrepreneur claimed that Caprice published 31 defamatory posts against him on Instagram between July 30 and August 2 this year.
He alleged that the posts suggested he was a disgrace for inviting his personal trainer Murad Zaidi on a podcast simply to let the man defend himself.
The postings allegedly implied that Muhammad Asyraf abused money, power, influence and family ties as the son of Datuk Seri Khalid Mohammad Jiwa to trap Caprice.
He stated that although he decided not to broadcast the full episode featuring Murad Zaidi as Caprice wanted, the rapper continued to attack him.
The plaintiff seeks an injunction to prevent Caprice from publishing, distributing or repeating defamatory postings against him on any social media platform.
He also demands that the defendant delete all relevant postings within 24 hours from the date of judgment if the court rules in his favour.
Muhammad Asyraf requests that Caprice make a public apology via video and publish it on all his social media accounts.
The plaintiff is claiming general damages, aggravated damages, costs and other relief deemed appropriate by the court. – Bernama