KOTA KINABALU: A famous Lonely Planet-rated Indian restaurant here is suing a blogger and Google for RM6 million for posting defamatory statements about his restaurants and dishes on the Internet.
Jothy Sdn Bhd director Tharumaraj Sivaperumal, the owner and manager of Jothy’s Fish Head Curry and Banana Leaf Restaurant, filed a civil suit at the High Court’s registry here this week, naming blogger Poh Huai Bin and Google Inc as first and second defendants respectively.
He is also seeking exemplary or punitive damages to deter Poh and Google from making similar scathing comments in the future.
Tharumaraj is also seeking an order, through his counsel Marcel Jude Joseph, to restrain Poh from defaming the restaurant.
The company is also seeking an order from the court to remove the offending articles from Google and other popular Internet search engines.
In addition, Tharumaraj is seeking a mandatory injunction to restrain Poh from defaming the company and to remove the offending comments from his blogsite.
Injurious to business
In his supporting affidavit, Tharumaraj claimed that the alleged defamatory statements published by both defendants had a tendency to prejudice the plaintiffs’ business and deter others from dealing with the plaintiff. It was also injurious to his business, he said.
Injurious to business
In his supporting affidavit, Tharumaraj claimed that the alleged defamatory statements published by both defendants had a tendency to prejudice the plaintiffs’ business and deter others from dealing with the plaintiff. It was also injurious to his business, he said.As a result of the defendants’ action, Tharumaraj said he had suffered losses and damages and the restaurant’s reputation has been affected both locally and internationally.
According to him, the good reputation of the restaurant which has been in operation since 1987, is known globally.
The restaurant is widely reported as a well-known eating destination in Kota Kinabalu by Lonely Planet, which has global television coverage and also publishes a series of travel advisory books.
Tharumaraj said that Poh’s offending articles could be read by Internet users throughout the country.
He added that Google’s conduct comes under the jurisdiction of the court here because its search engine is used regularly by Internet users in Malaysia. - FMT
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