Bar president George Varughese said it would first wait for the outcome of its originating summons to declare the appointments of Chief Justice Raus Sharif and Zulkefli as unlawful.
The Bar has applied to a High Court judge in Kuala Lumpur for its legal challenge to be referred straight to the Federal Court for a decision. The government wants to strike out the action.
“We will have wait for the High Court ruling before deciding on the next course of action,” Varughese said.
Justice Azizah Nawawi has fixed Dec 19 to hear the Bar’s reference application and the government’s move to annul the suit.
Varughese said this in response to Anwar’s review application following a Federal Court decision by a three-man bench on Oct 27 which refused him permission to be present in court to follow his civil case.
The opposition leader now claims the bench was illegally constituted as Zulkefli’s appointment was unconstitutional.
Anwar said the sitting was bad for want of a coram as a minimum of three judges was necessary to make a decision under Section 74 of the Courts of Judicature Act.
He said since the chairman was disqualified from sitting, that provision had not been complied with.
He wants the decision to bar him from attending his case be set aside and a fresh bench be formed to rehear his application.
Anwar, who is serving a five-year jail term for sodomy, said Zulkefli’s appointment, both as additional judge and his reappointment as Court of Appeal president, is against provisions in the Federal Constitution.
Apart from the Malaysian Bar, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Parti Amanah Negara have also filed a judicial review to challenge the appointments of Raus and Zulkefli.
Mahathir’s lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdullah said his client would make an application to hold a watching brief with the view to address the court in Anwar’s legal challenge.
“We will write to Anwar’s lawyers and inform the Federal Court about our intention to assist the court, if necessary,” Haniff said.
The High Court last week dismissed Mahathir’ leave for judicial review and the former prime minister has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, lawyer Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said Amanah assistant secretary Abang Ahmad Kerdee Abang Masagus would not be a party in Anwar’s matter.
The government, on July 7, announced that Raus would remain in office for another three years from Aug 4, while Zulkefli would remain in his post for another two years from Sept 28.
Both were appointed as chief justice and Court of Appeal president on April 1 and were scheduled to retire on Aug 3 and Sept 27 respectively, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 66 years and six months.
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