Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail also panned the prosecution as the issues pertaining to 13,000 documents had not yet been settled.
“If you want this to go quickly, we don’t want to hear about your document problems.
“I want the prosecution and defence to come out with the agreed facts and issues to be tried. Please don’t waste the court’s time.
“The prosecution must be ready. We cannot delay anymore. Please be ready on Jan 6 for case management.” she told the prosecution team.
On Sept 30, Hadhariah allowed the prosecution some time to index some 13,000 documents submitted.
Lead deputy public prosecutor Masri Mohamed Daud earlier told the court there were some problems with the documents.
“We have indexed the documents, although there are three documents in dispute and need to be sourced,” he said.
Hadhariah also told the defence counsel team that they, too, must be ready with a defence statement by Jan 6. She then revealed the list of dates for Lim’s trial.
They are: March 27—31; April 10—April 14; April 24—April 28, May 15—May 19; May 29—June 2; June 13—June 16; July 17— July 21.
Hadhariah said the trial would be held a minimum of five days with one week’s gap.
“There will be no changes to these dates as we have 60 witnesses. Please mark the dates,” she told the counsel.
Outside the court, lead defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo said the problems with the prosecution’s documents remained similar to before, although it was indexed as requested.
“It is mostly photocopy-related problems, many duplicates and just too voluminous.
On June 30, Lim was charged with using his public office or position to obtain gratification for himself and his wife, Betty Chew, by approving an application by Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd to convert agricultural land for residential purpose during a state exco meeting on July 18, 2014.
Lim was also alleged to have used his position to obtain gratification by purchasing a bungalow from businesswoman Phang Li Koon for RM2.8 million, below the property’s market value of RM4.7 million on July 28, 2015.
Lim and Phang have pleaded not guilty to both charges.
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