Cops classify MACC's report accusing whistleblower of lying as NFA

No further action will be taken by the police on a recent report lodged by the MACC against whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam which accused her of lying in court.

When contacted, Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director Abdul Jalil Hassan confirmed the NFA status on the Feb 9 police report lodged against Lalitha in Sentul district police station by an MACC officer.

“For your information, the report that was lodged at Sentul (police station) by the complainant has been marked as NFA because it is not related to the case investigated by Bukit Aman’s classified criminal investigation unit,” Jalil told Malaysiakini.

Lalitha, who is being sued by MACC chief Azam Baki for write-ups about his share ownership in public-listed companies, had in her statement of defence included her job description as a researcher at the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center).

The officer who lodged the report had based the allegation on a statement made by C4 Center last month, where the non-government organisation said Lalitha had "ceased being an employee with C4 Center since Dec 2020".

Lalitha's lawyer Manjeet Singh Dillon yesterday said the MACC may be cited for contempt of court over the police report as its subject matter is part of the ongoing civil court action between his client and Azam.

Azam is suing Lalitha over the activist's two articles, ‘Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? (Part 1)’ and ‘Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? (Part Two)’.

The articles were published by the Asia-based Independent News Service late last year.

Lalitha stated she was ready to fight Azam's lawsuit and prove in court the contents of her online articles regarding the issue.