A five-member bench chaired by Chief Justice Richard Malanjum allowed Anwar’s appeal for the reinstatement of his originating summons and for the matter to be sent back to the High Court for hearing of the merits after senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob did not oppose the appeal.
Earlier, Anwar’s counsel Gopal Sri Ram requested that the court allow the appeal for the matter to be remitted for hearing at the High Court.
Mazlifah, who appeared for the NSC and the government who were made defendants in the lawsuit, said she had no objections.
Malanjum set Nov 21 for mention of the case at the High Court.
Also on the bench were Court of Appeal president Ahmad Maarop, Chief Judge of Malaya Zaharah Ibrahim and Federal Court judges Azahar Mohamed and Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin.
Anwar’s originating summons to challenge the constitutionality of the NSC, which came into force on Aug 1, 2016, was struck out by the High Court on grounds that the legal challenge should have been filed at the Federal Court as it involved legislative competence by Parliament.
Article 4 (4) of the Federal Constitution states that the commencement of proceedings for a declaration that a law is invalid should be filed at the Federal Court by way of obtaining leave from a Federal Court judge.
Anwar lost his appeal at the appellate court on Nov 6, 2017. In March this year, the Federal Court granted him leave to appeal against the decision.
In his civil action filed on Aug 2, 2016, Anwar claimed that the implementation of NSC Act 2016 was unconstitutional and void.
He sought to stop the operation of the NSC Act in his bid to restore the power of the king on royal assent.