Lawyer M Visvanathan, who is appearing for Apandi, said the application would be heard before High Court judge Azimah Omar on Nov 18.

He said in a civil proceeding, defendants would only outline the brief facts of the case and the evidence.

“We filed the application to remove a part of Lim’s defence on grounds that it’s against the rules of pleading,” he told FMT after a case management before a deputy registrar.

In his statement of claim filed in July, Apandi, who was AG from July 2015 until May last year, said Lim had written a defamatory statement which was published in a news portal.

The article, titled “Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia is on the road to integrity”, appeared in Malaysiakini on May 6 this year.

Apandi said the article implied that he had been involved in a crime and depicted him as an immoral person without integrity.

He said it also implied that he was unethical and irresponsible, and had practised double standards while holding the position of AG.

He claimed the article was untrue and that it had placed him in public contempt.

It was also republished and shared through WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media, he said.

Apandi is seeking RM10 million in general damages and further compensation for aggravated and exemplary damages, inclusive of 5% interest.

In January 2016, Apandi cleared then-prime minister Najib Razak of wrongdoing in the 1MDB and SRC International cases due to a lack of evidence.

He also said the RM2.6 billion found in Najib’s account was a donation from Arab royalty.

Last year, Najib was charged with money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the two cases and the trials are on-going.