THE Auditor-General has been ordered to pay $50,000 to consultative firm Aliz Pacific and $70,000 to its partner, Nur Bano Ali.
Aliz Pacific and Nur Bano Ali instituted legal proceedings against the Auditor General in November 2014, after the publication of an audit report on Rewa Dairy.
On October 28, 2022, the Supreme Court ordered the Auditor General to apologise to Aliz Pacific and Nur Bano Ali for defaming them and remitted the case to High Court for assessment of damages.
A public apology was made by the Auditor General via advertisement in The Fiji Times on May 24, 2023.
“The second plaintiff (Nur Bano Ali) had to answer to the boards/organisation she was serving on.
“There is no dispute that she is a person of high social standing in the society.
“It is apparent that the publication would have been likely damaging for her in her professional capacity,” states master of the High Court Vandhana Lal in her September 4 ruling.
“Injury to professional reputation carries with it some extent of financial loss even though it may be impossible to quantify it.
“The award of damages is compensatory of distress to the second plaintiff (Nur Bano Ali) reparation for harm to reputation and vindication of the plaintiffs’ standing.
“Court has to ensure there is ‘an appropriate and rational relationship between the harm sustained by the plaintiff and the amount of damages awarded.
“Taking into account the above and considering the awards made by the courts in other defamation cases, I find an award of $50,000 to the first plaintiff (Aliz Pacific) and $70,000 to the second plaintiff (Nur Bano Ali) as general damages proper.”
Ms Lal also ordered the Attorney-General to pay $4000 in costs to Aliz Pacific and Nur Bano Ali.
