Lim’s lawyer, Wong Guo Jin, said the appeals court’s deputy registrar, Mariam Hasanah Othman, fixed the hearing date during a case management today.

Wong said he and fellow lawyer SN Nair took over conduct of Lim’s case last month.

The DAP MP is seeking to suspend the enforcement of a judgment handed down by the High Court on March 16 which ordered him to pay general damages of RM500,000 to Jenny Lai and RM1 million to MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd.

Lim was also ordered to pay them another RM500,000 in aggravated damages.

In his ruling, Justice Akhtar Tahir said he found Lim’s actions akin to those of a “vigilante”, who was determined to force the authorities to act against Lai and her companies at any cost.

He also said the RM2 million awarded as damages was to serve as a deterrent against anyone who made unfounded remarks in the future.

Akhtar said the deterrent was needed as the courts were inundated with defamation cases.

“‘See you in court’ seems to have become a fashionable statement rather than being something to be fearful of,” he added.

On May 22, the High Court dismissed Lim’s stay application on grounds that there were no special circumstances to stay the judgment pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal.

In her lawsuit, Lai accused Lim of tarnishing her reputation and that of her company by accusing them of running an illegal business and cheating Chinese investors.

She said Lim’s statements, published by the English and Chinese media, had implied that she was a dishonest person.