The Pardons Board has disposed the petition filed by Anwar Ibrahim's family and the opposition leader will be disqualified as a member of parliament, senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh said today.

However, Anwar's lawyer N Surendran did not wish to comment on this announcement, saying he would wait for the confirmation on the matter from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.

The Pardons Board decision was conveyed to High Court judge Asmabi Mohamad in chambers this morning and she fixed next Wednesday for further confirmation.

Amarjeet told reporters later that the petition has been "disposed" and hence, the position of the constitution is clear on the matter.

He said an affidavit from the director-general of the Legal Division of the Prime Minister's Department, who is part of the Pardons Board secretariat, has been sent to Anwar's family.

It is understood that a copy of the affidavit, issued by division director-general Nursiah Arshad, was made available to the court today.

"Yes the petition has been heard and disposed of. The decision has been conveyed to them (Anwar's family) in the form of an affidavit. They asked for time to verify the fact.

"The MP (position) ceases to exist; he becomes disqualified," Amarjeet said, adding that the judge granted the applicant time for confirmation and to seek instructions from the plaintiff.

However, Amarjeet, who heads the Civil Division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, said he would leave it to the opposition leader’s lawyers to confirm the matter.

The Pardons Board is chaired by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Other members include Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail ( right ) and Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

This decision ends the bid by Anwar’s family to seek a pardon on his sodomy conviction and the 67-year-old politician will have to complete his five-year sentence.

This will also mean that his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat would be declared vacant, paving the way for a by-election.

Today was initially fixed for the hearing of leave (permission) on Anwar's application for a judicial review to attend the current sitting of the Parliament, which ends on April 9.

Anwar had named Prisons Department director-general Zulkifli Omar and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as respondents.

The plea for pardon was submitted by Anwar's family to the Pardons Board on Feb 24, 14 days after the opposition leader was convicted by the Federal Court.

Meanwhile, Surendran said they cannot confirm the disposal of the plea as the family has yet to receive the letter and it was inappropriate for them to comment at this juncture.

"We only got to know this (decision), this morning from the senior federal counsel. Last Tuesday, the senior federal counsel sought more time to find out more from the Pardons Board whether a decision has been made," Surendran said.

Asked to comment whether Anwar could file another application for pardon, the lawyer said it was possible if there are "fresh circumstances".

Responding to a question, another of Anwar's lawyers, Latheefa Koya, agreed that normally, the Pardons Board would take a long time to decide on applications.

"But this was so swift," Latheefa said.