KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- The High Court here today fixed Oct 1 to hear a RM2.5 million defamation suit filed by veteran lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon against Padang Serai Member of Parliament N. Gobalakrishnan, Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (TV3) and two others.

Judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin fixed the date in chambers with the presence of all the involved parties.

Lim Qi Si, representing TV3 told reporters that the court had also set July 25, for case management, in the lawsuit filed on Sept 26 last year, by Manjeet against Gobalakrishnan, Utusan Malaysia journalist Raja Syahrir Abu Bakar, Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad and TV3.

Manjeet had alleged that Gobalakrishnan gave an interview to the media on Aug 16, in which he falsely made derogatory remarks against him and that Raja Syahrir had prepared a report of the interview and published by Utusan Malaysia in its newspaper dated Aug 17, last year under the title 'Manjeet selalu burukkan kerajaan' (Manjeet always smears the Government) with reckless disregard to the truth of the contents.

He said a substantial part of the entire interview was broadcast by TV3 on Aug 16.