ALLEGED LIBEL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22726, 12 May 1937, Page 12

ALLEGED LIBEL

INSURANCE COMPANY £50,000 DAMAGES CLAIMED (Received May 11, 10.53 p.m.) SYDNEY. May 11 An action for alleged libel and slander in which the Australian Provincial Assurance Association is claiming £50,000 damages from the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society, was mentioned in the Supreme Court today on an application by the defendant company to amend a plea. The declaration filed stated that both plaintiffs and defendants issued group assurance policies under which both received large sums from employees of the New South Wales Government railways, many of whom were members of the Australian Railways Union. Plaintiffs complained that defendants had published an article containing the statement: "It has come to the knowledge of the union and many of its branches that unscrupulous agents were producing copies of 'The Railroad' when they approached railway workers, and were stating that they represented the Mutual NonShareholding Life Society recommended by the Australian Railways Union." It was stated that the article declared many union members had been misled and taken policies of little value with offices definitely not endorsed by the union. Plaintiffs complained that certain statements meant, inter alia, that a person was unwise to take out a policy with plaintiffs. Defendants denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. The application concerned an additional plea, to which, the Court allowed an amendment, and ordered plaintiffs to pay defendants' costs in connection with the application. **