The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed Dec 1 for hearing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's application to remove certain portions of Media Rakyat owner Chan Chee Kong’s defence in the PM's defamation suit.

Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera also fixed the date for mention for Najib's defamation ‎suit against Chan and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

The judge fixed the date in chambers today after it was initially set for hearing of Pua's application to strike out Najib's suit.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo ( photo ) said the hearing of the striking-out application cannot be held today as the court is awaiting a decision on the issue of locus standi (legal standing).

"We have applied to strike out the suit on the basis of locus standi where Najib as PM should be open to criticism," he said.

However, the PM’s lawyers have argued that Najib is suing in his personal capacity.

Najib was represented by lawyers Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, Mohd Hafarizam Harun and M Reza Hassan.

Implied he had stolen

In the suit, Najib claimed that the video recording and Pua's speech implied that he had stolen or is going to continue to steal the people's money with regard to the 1MDB project.

He said it also meant that the prime minister, as chairperson of 1MDB's advisory board, had abused his powers for personal gain and hence had betrayed the public.

Firoz told reporters that the Court of Appeal will hear and decide on the issue of locus standi in the Suara Keadilan vs Felda case following what was decided in a British case called Derbyshire.

"The appeal has yet to be fixed and the issue should be decided first," he said.