Jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's application to the Federal Court to review his conviction and sentence for corruption has been put off to a date to be fixed later.

The application, originally to be heard tomorrow, was adjourned following a letter dated today from the Attorney-General's Chambers seeking a five-member panel, instead of three, to hear the application.

Last August, Anwar had filed the application at the Federal Court seeking leave to have the court review its own decision which upheld the High Court verdict o­n April 14, 1999.

He was informed o­n Feb 18 this year that it would be heard o­n March 18.

Written request

Deputy Registrar S Kalyana Kumar said the A-G's Chambers had submitted a written request for a five-member panel and that this was agreeable to both parties.

He said the matter had been referred to new Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim who had approved the request.

However, arrangements for the five-member panel could not be made due to short notice and the matter has been rescheduled, he added.

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair confirmed the matter and said he received a fax from Kalyana at 2pm today stating that Ahmad Fairuz had approved the request for a five-member panel.

As to Anwar's appeal against a sodomy conviction, Sankara said there has yet to be any change to the hearing of the appeal set for March 24.

Panel of judges

It is believed that the intended hearing tomorrow was to be presided over by Federal Court judges Abdul Malek Ahmad and Siti Norma Yaakob and Court of Appeal judge Denis O­ng.

According to a legal source, Court of Appeal judges would have to sit o­n the five-member panel as the remaining three Federal Court justices - Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, Haidar Mohd Noor and Steve Shim - had heard Anwar's case at appeal stage.

The remaining Federal Court judge, Mohtar Abdullah (left) - who was the AG who prosecuted Anwar - is at present indisposed due to illness.

On July 10 last year, former Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, Shim and Haidar upheld a decision by High Court judge S Augustine Paul to sentence Anwar to six years' jail for corrupt practice.

Haidar wrote a 60-page judgment o­n issues of Anwar's conviction while Dzaiddin wrote a five-page judgment o­n the six-year sentence.

There was, however, no indication in the judgment as to whether Shim agreed with his two colleagues because he did not give a written judgment o­n the matter.

While there is no avenue for appeal over a decision by the Federal Court, aggrieved parties can apply to the same court for a review of its decision.