Legislator and law partners seek HK$2m in election libel suit
Legislative councillor Andrew Cheng Kar-foo and his law firm sought HK$2 million in the Court of First Instance yesterday from a candidate in the 2007 Sha Tin district council election for passing out leaflets they claim contained libellous content.
Cheng, the firm K.B. Chau & Co and three other partners there are seeking damages from Ho Sau-mo.
They claim Ho, who lost in the October 2007 election, printed and gave out leaflets with claims about them that were libellous. The other partners are Cheung Kwai-nang, Adam To King-yan and Poon Kwok-fai.
Cheng, legislative councillor for New Territories East, said he supported Ho's rival Michael Yung Ming-chau in the election.
'As a legislative councillor of many years, it is not unusual to see my name on such leaflets,' Cheng said. 'But to see my partners is very rare, and to see my partners and my firm on the leaflet is extremely unfair.'
The lawsuit came against the background of disputes involving a company called Tin Wui Garden Art and the Chevalier Garden housing estate in Sha Tin. They arose from the owners' corporation's dissatisfaction with Tin Wui regarding the presence of large vehicles in the public area, Ho said in his testimony yesterday.
At the time, an interlocutory injunction had been taken out by the owners' corporation against Tin Wui.
Ho, cross-examining Cheng, said his intended target was not Cheng but the owners' corporation.
Cheng testified that he had been acting as a legal consultant to the owners' corporation since around 2005, assisting in its negotiations.
Ho claimed that the owners' corporation had spent money on unnecessary legal action.
Tin Wui and the Chevalier Garden owners' corporation have since reached an agreement.
The case continues on Monday before Madam Justice Queeny Au Yeung Kwai-yue.
