SEREMBAN: The High Court has ordered the police and the government to pay damages to a lawyer for defamation over a sodomy case and power abuse eight years ago.

Judge Abdul Alim Abdullah said the court would assess the damages to be paid to lawyer Anthony Fernandez, 54, who had claimed to have been wrongfully accused of sodomising a security guard on Feb 17, 2001.

Fernandez, who is seeking RM8mil in damages, had in his application named former district police chief ACP Abdul Khalid Hassan, former state OCCI Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Ghani, former state police chief Datuk Amiruddin Che Imbi, former state prosecution head ASP Mazupi Abdul Rahman, the Inspector-General of Police and the Malaysian government as defendants.

Fernandez's lead counsel Haresh Mahadevan, when met later, said the court had also struck out the defendant's case and granted his client with a consequential order for damages.

"The only issue left to be determined now is the quantum of damages that ought to be awarded to Fernandez," he said.

Fernandez in his claim said the incident began on Feb 25, 2001, when Norashid Yusof, then 23, lodged a report saying that an "Indian man", who was Fernandez, had sodomised him in a toilet at the Terminal 1 bus station on Feb 17.

However, he corrected the report the same night saying that the "Indian man" was not Fernandez but someone who resembled him.

Despite this former OCPD ACP Abdul Khalid had on Feb 27 made a press statement that a 46-year-old lawyer had sodomised Norashid in a toilet at the Terminal 1 bus station.

Fernandez said he and his lawyers then carried out their own investigation and discovered the individual who allegedly sodomised Norashid.

He added that despite Norashid identifying the culprit in an identification parade on Oct 14, 2003, the man was not charged in court.