Anwar's leave application to appeal on April 14

PUTRAJAYA, March 9 -- Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's leave application to appeal against the dismissal of his RM100 million defamation suit against former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be heard by the Federal Court on April 14.

One of Anwar's counsel, S.N.Nair, said he was informed of the date by the Federal Court registry via facsimile.

On March 1, the Federal Court adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed following Anwar's application to have two of the three judges on the Federal Court panel disqualified on grounds that they had previously heard Anwar's civil suit against Dr Mahathir on his dismissal from his cabinet posts, which involved the same parties.

Anwar, is seeking leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision on Oct 10 last year which rejected his appeal on technical grounds.

The Court of Appeal had held that the memorandum of appeal filed by Anwar in English language was defective and invalid and that court documents must be filed in Bahasa Malaysia.

Anwar brought legal action against Dr Mahathir in January 2006 for making a defamatory remark against him at the Malaysian Human Rights Conference on Sept 9, 2005.

In 2007, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed Dr Mahathir's application to strike out the suit. Anwar was unsuccessful in his appeal at the Court of Appeal.

BERNAMA