Gurung Ganga Bahadur v. Securicor Gurkha Services Ltd

Read the full judgment text of HCA 1851/2005 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 21 December 2005.

1. Your claim is a claim in defamation and the law requires that the words about which you complain must be capable of being defamatory.  The statement that you were late for work because of a traffic jam may have been made falsely.  If you have been wrongly dismissed, you have a remedy for that which you are pursuing in the District Court.  But to say of somebody that they are late to work because of a traffic jam is not capable of being defamatory.  Neither is it capable of having any innuendo

Case No.HCA 1851/2005
Court
High Court CFI
Date21 Dec 2005
Judge
Case Document
100%Judiciary

HCA 1851/2005

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

ACTION NO. 1851 OF 2005

______________________

BETWEEN

  GURUNG GANGA BAHADUR Plaintiff
  and  
  SECURICOR GURKHA SERVICES LIMITED Defendant

____________

Before : Deputy High Court Judge Saunders J in Chambers

Date of Hearing : 21 December 2005

Date of Decision : 21 December 2005

______________________

D E C I S I O N

______________________

1.Your claim is a claim in defamation and the law requires that the words about which you complain must be capable of being defamatory.  The statement that you were late for work because of a traffic jam may have been made falsely.  If you have been wrongly dismissed, you have a remedy for that which you are pursuing in the District Court.  But to say of somebody that they are late to work because of a traffic jam is not capable of being defamatory.  Neither is it capable of having any innuendo which could be defamatory.

2.For those reasons, I am satisfied that even if this case was to go to trial, it would fail.  That is why I am going to strike out the claim now. 

(Submission on costs)

3.Mr Gurung, you chose to bring these proceedings, you must take the consequences.  You must pay the Defendant’s costs to be taxed on a party and party basis if not agreed.

  (John Saunders)
Deputy High Court Judge

The Plaintiff appeared in person

Ms Yen Kwun Wing, of Messrs Fairbairn Catley Low & Kong, for the Defendant