KUALA LUMPUR – Taking the stand in the high court today, Deepak Jaikishan expressed the profound impact of Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s infamous “telur Deepak” speech last year – labelling it as not only “hurtful” but a “blatant lie”, especially as it occurred during his birthday celebration.
Testifying as the plaintiff’s subpoenaed witness on the first day of J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd’s civil suit against Azmin, the businessman lamented the former minister’s actions.
“It was my birthday in March when all this news (about Azmin’s speech) came out…it was cruel for Azmin to fabricate stories about me on stage while I was celebrating with my birthday cake…it deeply hurt me.”
Deepak emphasised the malicious nature of Azmin’s speech, which not only tarnished his reputation but also dragged his brother Rajesh Jaikishan and their company, J&E Advance Tech, into the mire.
“The speech defamed me and my brother’s name in the marketplace. It crippled all the efforts that my brother and his wife had put into their business, and I saw the damage in front of my eyes…that was the nasty part,” he told judicial commissioner Leong Wai Hong today.
The 52-year-old businessman recounted Azmin’s use of inflammatory language, portraying him as a tool for stirring up emotions in his audience.
“He (Azmin) went on to say, ‘telur Deepak, bukan telur yang dibawa oleh Deepak’ (in his speech)…this is a deeply hurtful statement, particularly for me, coming from someone like Azmin…especially with his insistence on repeating ‘telurs’.”
He was quoting Azmin’s “hurtful” statement which translates into “Deepak’s ‘telur’, not eggs brought by Deepak”.
Deepak further decried Azmin’s insinuation that the company secured the project due to his association with Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, branding it as particularly malicious.
“(When Azmin said) ‘kawan Rosmah’… (it is) nasty, as everyone knows she is my mortal foe. She has destroyed my business. She is not my friend.”
Azmin’s speech, delivered at a ceramah on March 11 last year, criticised the government’s decision to award a project to J&E Advance Tech as the sole egg supplier in the country, alleging that the procurement process was irregular.
Contrary to Azmin’s assertions, Deepak clarified that the project was not awarded through tender, as the company obtained approval to supply eggs in the market.
“There was no tender process by the government for the egg supply whatsoever.”
Earlier, Deepak’s younger brother and J&E Advance Tech’s general manager Rajesh affirmed that Deepak had no legal ties to the company.
Responding to Azmin’s lawyer Muhammad Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid, Rajesh acknowledged that while their application process was expedited, they followed due process in securing government approval.
Despite not being explicitly named, Rajesh argued that Azmin’s speech defamed the company, especially since Agriculture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu publicly endorsed them as the sole egg supplier on March 8, days before Azmin’s speech.
J&E Advance Tech seeks RM20 million in damages from Azmin, alleging that his statements were made in bad faith and intended to harm the company’s reputation.
The company is seeking general, exemplary, and aggravated damages from Azmin, as well as a court order to stop Azmin from repeating such statements.
Nazimuddin confirmed that the former investment, trade, and industry minister will testify on Friday (May 17), concluding the trial. – May 13, 2024