Anwar Seeking To Refer Pardon Rejection To Federal Court
KUALA LUMPUR: Ex-Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is seeking for High Court leave to refer to the Federal Court the issue of whether the Pardons Board’s refusal to pardon him of sodomy could be challenged.
Counsel Latheefa Koya said Anwar raised the issue at the High Court this afternoon during the hearing of a bid by him and his family for leave to challenge the Board's decision.
Anwar, his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and his daughters Nurul Izzah and Nurul Nuha are seeking High Court’s permission to continue with their judicial review against the Board's decision to reject a petition to be pardoned over a 2008 sodomy incident.
Latheefa - who acted for Dr Wan Azizah, Nurul Izzah and Nurul Nuha during the matter - said all three had also raised the same bid for the High Court to have the Federal Court to look into the issue dealing with the Board's decision.
Anwar acted for himself during the chamber matter before judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin.
Latheefa said senior federal counsel Suzana Atan and Shamsul Bolhassan had objected to Anwar and his family being given leave to continue the judicial review against the Board.
She said both senior federal counsels had argued that the Board's decision cannot be questioned in court.
Suzana and Shamsul represented the respondents in the judicial review, who are former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, the Board and the Federal government.
The leave hearing would continue on April 12 before Nor Bee.
On Feb 10 last year, the Federal Court upheld 68-year-old Anwar's conviction and five-year-jail term for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 31, in 2008.
On June 24 last year, Anwar, Dr Wan Azizah, Nurul Izzah and Nurul Nuha, filed the judicial review bid against the Board's dismissal of the pardons petition earlier on March 16. Dr Wan Azizah is Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president while Nurul Izzah is the party's vice-president.
Anwar - currently a Sungai Buloh Prison inmate serving five years' jail over the sodomy incident - claimed the Board's decision was tainted by the presence of Gani in its meeting.
Anwar, who used to be Permatang Pauh member of parliament, accused Gani of having long-standing bias against him (Anwar).
Anwar claimed the Board's decision was not properly communicated to him and his family as it was done through a court affidavit produced by the AG's Chambers on March 27 last year.
Anwar also alleged that the Board's decision violated his fundamental rights under the Federal Constitution, adding that alternatively it (decision) contravened natural justice.
Aside from quashing the Board's decision, Anwar seeks a court order to compel it to re-convene a meeting to reconsider his petition and advise the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong appropriately.
Anwar also seeks an alternative remedy of a court order to compel the Board to advise the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to pardon him (Anwar).
- NST
