PUTRAJAYA, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd obtained leave from the Court of Appeal here today to appeal against a High Court's order that it pays Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng RM200,000 in damages for publishing a defamatory article about him.

Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif chairing a three-member panel allowed Utusan Melayu's application for leave to appeal.

The other two judges on the panel were Court of Appeal judges Datuk Zaharah Ibrahim and Datuk Mohtaruddin Baki.

Justice Raus said it had been a practice to grant leave to appeal on cases which were from a court of first instance.

Earlier, Raus did not grant an adjournment sought by lawyer Ram Karpal Singh who had earlier informed the court that counsel Jagdeep Singh Deo who was handling the matter, was taken ill.

Utusan Melayu was represented by lawyer Mohana Kumar.

In June this year, the George Town High Court ordered Utusan Melayu to pay a sum of RM200,000 in damages to Lim over an article published in its daily, Utusan Malaysia dated March 12, 2008, under the heading "Tiada Lagi DEB."