A five member panel led by Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin said there was no merit to review the application.

“This is not a fit and proper case for the court to use its inherent jurisdiction,” he told a packed courtroom.

The other judges on the panel were chief judge of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, Hasan Lah, Abu Samah Nordin and Zaharah Ibrahim.

His only remaining option is to file an application to the Pardons Board for clemency.

Anwar is currently serving his five-year jail sentence at the Sungai Buloh Prison for sexual misconduct on his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

Anwar, 69, was initially acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 9, 2012.

However, the Court of Appeal reversed the acquittal and sentenced him to five years’ jail on March 7, 2014.

On Feb 10 last year, a five-man bench in the Federal Court, chaired by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria, maintained the conviction, saying it found that Saiful was a credible witness.

The bench also concluded that there was no break in the chain of evidence, as claimed by Anwar’s lawyers.

On Oct 12 this year, Anwar had returned to the Federal Court in a final attempt to use the courts to clear himself of his sodomy conviction.

After listening to both defence and prosecution arguments, the five-member panel adjourned the review decision to a later date.