The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today fixed June 19 to hear the application by Umno and its former president Najib Abdul Razak to strike out Malaysiakini's defence.

The date was fixed by judicial commissioner Faizah Jamaludin in her chambers.

Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd's lawyer Surendra Ananth and Nor Hazira Abu Haiyan, who was acting for Umno and Najib, confirmed the date with reporters.

Nor Hazira said they have no instruction to withdraw the case.

Faizah is the new judge hearing the case following the elevation of Justice Kamaludin Md Said to the Court of Appeal.

Justice Kamaludin was first assigned to the case when he was a judicial commissioner, and after Malaysiakini's application to recuse him, his post as a full-fledged judge was confirmed.

He was then transferred to Seremban High Court and the case followed him there despite the news portal's application to recuse him.

Najib and Umno organising secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh had sued Malaysiakini for two articles on readers' comments, over comments by readers on the Terengganu imbroglio. 

They filed the suit in 2014 and named the publisher of Malaysiakini, Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, editor-in-chief Steven Gan and then chief editor Fathi Aris Omar as defendants.

They claimed that the compilation of the comments by the readers in two Yoursay articles published on May 14, 2014, titled "A case of the PM reaping what he sows" and "How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?" was defamatory.