Amirudin filed the lawsuit last year after Sanusi allegedly said the former had abused his powers by “colluding” with tycoon Vincent Tan to transfer a 600-acre (240ha) plot of Selangor state land worth RM10 billion to Berjaya Land Bhd for free.

Sanusi further claimed that the Selangor government incurred a RM180 million loss as a result.

Lawyer Haijan Omar, appearing for Amirudin, also said the court fixed another case management on July 2 before judicial commissioner Rozi Bainon.

Amirudin is seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages from Sanusi.

In Sanusi’s defence, he said that he was responding to the Selangor menteri besar’s own defamatory statements about him.

He added that in the run-up to the six state elections last August, Amirudin had made several derogatory remarks about him, calling him “rude” and a “coward”.

Besides Amirudin, Tan and Berjaya Land have also filed a defamation suit against Sanusi for allegedly making defamatory remarks about the RM700 million river-widening project known as the Selangor Maritime Gateway.