His lawyer Guok Ngek Seong said that Lim wants the suit to be dismissed on the grounds that MCA has no legal standing as a political party to sue an individual.
“We found an English case law (Goldsmith vs Bhoyrul) in the late 1990s that stated political parties have no power to sue.
“As a political party, they should be able to accept criticism,” he said.
The bid to strike out was filed on Sept 12 and High Court judge Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim will deliver his decision on Feb 27 next year.
Last July, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan had filed the suit in his capacity as a public official, against Lim over the comments made by the latter at a press conference held in the Parliament building on March 15 this year.
Ong said Lim’s remark had seriously injured MCA’s reputation, adding that the Chinese party is seeking RM100 million in general and exemplary damages.
Lim had referred to information from his sources alleging that MCA had never used their own funds to give allocations to Chinese schools, and that MCA had instead allegedly pocketed public funds.
He added that MCA should declare the party’s assets and show how much money from their own assets they had contributed to Chinese education.
In his defence, Lim said as a people’s representative, he is entitled to question issues of public interest.
“It is my duty to seek answers on issues concerning the people,” the two term MP said in his defence.
Lim, who is Federal Territories DAP secretary, had previously said in a press conference that he received a letter of demand from MCA, asking him to retract his accusation towards the Chinese party and pay RM100 million in damages.
“Maybe MCA thinks I’m a billionaire, or that I have personal donations in my account. But no, I don’t have RM100 million,” he had said in response to the demand notice.