Jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has lodged a police report against three top judges - Federal Court judge Pajan Singh Gill and Court of Appeal judges Richard Malanjun and Hashim Yusof - claiming that they had perverted the course of justice.

Anwar claimed that the three judges had breached the law and committed an offence when they denied the existence of his notice of alibi which had been submitted to them in a proceeding when the court rejected his appeal against a sodomy conviction in April last year.

The notice of alibi sought to show that Anwar was elsewhere when the sodomy offence was committed.

When releasing copies of the police report to the media today, Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair said that his client made the report from his cell at the Sungai Buloh prison on Tuesday. A police officer was present to take his report.

"He lodged the report because he strongly feels that the judges had acted out of boundary when they denied the (existence of the) alibi notice which formed an integral part of his defence," Sankara said when met at his office in Kuala Lumpur today.

Penal Code

The lawyer said that Anwar wants the police to conduct an investigation under section 298 of the Penal Code which states: "Whoever, being any public servant, who corruptly or maliciously makes or pronounces in any stage of a judicial proceeding any report, order, or decision which he knows to be contrary to law shall be punished."

Offenders found guilty under the section can be jailed up to seven years and/or fine, or both, he added.

On April 18 last year, the judges had dismissed Anwar's appeal to set aside his sodomy conviction and nine years' jail sentence.

They also rejected his application for bail and stay of execution pending the disposal of the appeal in the Federal Court, the country's highest court.

Last week, the court had rejected Anwar's second request for bail and dismissed his application for the Court of Appeal to review its own decision dismissing his appeal.

In his police report, Anwar claimed that when his appeal was heard between March 24 and April 10 last year, his lawyers had submitted to the judges copies of his notice of alibi to prove that the notice had been properly filed by Anwar's defence and served to the prosecution during the sodomy trial.

The prosecution had then conceded that the notice of alibi had been filed and served but despite this, the judges in their written judgment had not only denied the existence of the notice but also used it to strengthen their decision in dismissing his appeal.

Arguing that the judges had made a wrong decision, Anwar said he applied for the review which was subsequently heard by the three judges.

During the hearing of the application, the judges had refused to admit that they were presented copies of the notice of alibi, stating that it is not in the court's records even though the prosecution had conceded to the existence of the notice as stated in an affidavit filed by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Majid Hamzah.

'It is scandalous'

"When my lawyers sensed that the judges were trying to avert responding to the issue, my lawyer Karpal Singh openly asked the judges to confirm or deny receiving the notice of alibi but the judges had refused to give a definite answer other than that they do not have the copies in their record," he said.

From the judges' actions, Anwar stated, it was obvious that they had suppressed a crucial evidence that would have resulted in his outright acquittal, thus maliciously perverted the course of justice.

"It is scandalous for the judges to deny an established fact, and to aid and abet the prosecution in securing my conviction at all cost," he claimed.

"Even on the frivolous assumption that they had not physically received the notice, there is no way that they could deny the averments in Abdul Majid's affidavit which emphatically stated that the court was informed that a notice of alibi was served to them during the proceeding."

Meanwhile, Sankara also informed that he will be sending a copy of the report to the Malaysian Bar seeking their consideration to urge the chief justice to convene a tribunal to try the judges.

"This is a serious matter as it involved the credibility of the judiciary and this affects the Bar members as well. We hope that they can react strongly on the matter," he said, adding that this is the first time such allegations had been made against a member of the judiciary.

Three years ago, the High Court found Anwar guilty of sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar, the former driver of his wife and opposition Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Anwar has completed his four-year jail sentence on corruption charges and is seeking bail while awaiting the outcome of his sodomy conviction appeal, for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison.