Kuala Lumpur:The Sessions Court has scheduled trial dates between March and August next year for former human resources minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, who is facing three corruption charges involving RM1.097 million related to the approval of foreign worker quotas.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Sessions Court Judge Azrul Darus set the trial dates for March 4, April 12, May 24 to 27, August 17 to 19, and August 23 to 25, after both the prosecution and defense agreed on these dates, with Saravanan's defense team advocating for an early trial. The Deputy Public Prosecutor, Julaila Jamaludin, indicated that the prosecution had provided 31 pages of documents to the defense, as confirmed by defense counsel Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent.

The prosecution plans to call 25 witnesses, and the court has directed the defense to file its statement of defense by January 15, 2027. Saravanan pleaded not guilty on August 28 to charges of receiving RM150,000 and RM350,000 in cash from Vectica Resources Sdn Bhd director Tan Teck Lim, through Syed Amirul Syed Ahmad, as inducements to approve foreign worker quotas for TYKB Engineering Sdn Bhd.

The third charge involves Saravanan receiving RM597,000 from the same individual via a cheque deposited into Big Seven Ventures Sdn Bhd's account at Maybank Islamic Berhad's Old Klang Road branch. These charges are under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.