GE14 | The Penang High Court today postponed the graft trial of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to May 21.

High Court Judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail said the postponement was necessary as Lim was not present in court today, having to tend to matters related to the 14th general election.

The court session today started with Lim's lawyer Gobind Singh apologising for the absence of Lim as he is attending to some official business.

Gobind explained Lim had to see to the dissolution of the state assembly this afternoon, and prepare for the coming election.

"I do not know when the polls is, but I suggest that case management be in May," Gobind said.

Hadhariah asked the prosecution if they had any objections.

Lead prosecuter Masri Md Daud said the session could go on, as the election date has not been set yet.

Masri later told reporters that the court was supposed to hear the testimonies of 14 witnesses today.

However, Hadhariah said the court cannot proceed without Lim, as it is a corruption case.

The judge fixed May 10 for case management and May 21 for the trial to resume.

"Hopefully, the issue of elections can be resolved by then," said Hadhariah.

BN ties established

The corruption trial involving Lim and businesswoman Phang Li Khoon, involving his purchase of the latter’s bungalow, was to continue today after a three-day postponement last week due to parliamentary proceedings.

Lim and Gobind are both MPs for Bagan and Puchong respectively, and had applied to the court for leave to carry out their parliamentary duties which concluded last Thursday.

Last week saw the prosecution present 11 witnesses on Monday and 14 on Tuesday.

Except for Facebook marketer Muhsin Latheef, 13 were formal witnesses who were called in to verify details related to Lim's purchase of the RM2.8 million bungalow on Jalan Pinhorn, Penang.

Following intense cross-examination from Gobind, it was learnt that Muhsin, also a blogger nicknamed 'Mamu Parpu’, is a hardcore supporter of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In his social media accounts, Muhsin described himself as "kami geng Najib" (We are Najib's gang), with postings urging support for BN in GE14.

Muhsin is responsible for lodging the reports with the police and MACC that triggered the latest probe into the bungalow case.

Throughout the two-day hearing session, Gobind tried to show that the probe and graft charge against Lim was a "political conspiracy".

Defence: Not below market

On the second day of the hearing, Gobind established that Lim had purchased the bungalow based on an agreed price of RM2.8 million before 2013, higher than the market value of the property at the time.

Throughout the session, Gobind tried to quash the prosecution's claim that his client had purchased his property below market value from Phang, who has insisted the unit was sold on a "willing seller, willing buyer" basis.