PUTRAJAYA - Muhammed Yusoff Rawther has withdrawn his appeal against a High Court's decision which dismissed his application to remove several paragraphs in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's statement of defence and counterclaim in a lawsuit.
A three-member Court of Appeal comprising Justices Datuk Lee Swee Seng, Datuk Hashim Hamzah and Datuk Lim Chong Fong struck out the appeal and ordered Muhammed Yusoff to pay RM5,000 in costs to Anwar.
Earlier, Muhammed Yusoff's counsel, Reenajit Kaur Golen told the court that they wrote to the court on March 6 to notify about the withdrawal of the appeal.
Anwar's counsel Navpreet Singh said the appellant’s decision to withdraw the appeal only showed he agreed with the High Court’s decision that he had failed to pass the striking out threshold test.
"The appellant filed the notice of appeal and proceeded with case management sessions to obtain directions to file submissions. However, he made a u-turn to withdraw the appeal a month before the appeal hearing date today,” he said.
The lawyer then sought RM5,000 in costs as the appellant retracted the appeal at the last minute.
On July 14, 2021, Muhammed Yusoff, who is Anwar's former research assistant filed the suit claiming that Anwar sexually assaulted him
He had sought, among others, special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
On Sept 9, last year the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Muhammed Yusoff's application to strike out several paragraphs in Anwar's statement of defence and counterclaim.
Anwar, in his statement of defence filed on Sept 28, 2021, claimed that Muhammed Yusoff had lied under oath to the authorities regarding the sexual assault.
According to the PKR president, who filed a counterclaim on the same date (Sept 28), Muhammed Yusoff had concocted a story about sexual assault to tarnish his political career to ensure he does not become Prime Minister. - BERNAMA