Court allows Anwar's bid to obtain records of WhatsApp chats with ex-aide

The High Court yesterday allowed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s application to obtain copies of all WhatsApp conversations between him and his former research assistant Muhammed Yusoff Rawther from 2018 to 2019.

Judicial commissioner John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee allowed Anwar’s application during online proceedings, which were also attended by Anwar’s lawyer Navpreet Singh and Muhammed Yusoff’s counsel Mahajoth Singh.

"After going through the submissions and the content of the statement of claim, it is my finding that the application has merits or the documents required are related and necessary for the determination of the case," said Lee.

The court then ordered Yusoff to pay Anwar RM1,000 in costs and fixed April 13 for case management.

In the discovery application, the Tambun MP, among others, had sought copies of all WhatsApp conversations between the duo from September 2018 to June 2019.

According to court filings, Anwar said the documents were essential to verify the "factual events" pleaded by Yusoff in his statement of claim.

He said it was necessary for him to peruse the documents as they were significant evidence of the core issues in dispute, and would help with the fair disposal of the civil suit.

Yusoff, as the plaintiff, filed the suit against Anwar on July 14, 2021, accusing him of sexually assaulting him in 2018.

He sought special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as interest, costs and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

Anwar then filed a counter-suit over Yusoff’s suit against him.