The High Court will decide tomorrow whether Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will have to testify at the sodomy trial of his former deputy after the prosecution and defence locked horns on the relevance of his testimony.

After weeks of speculations about Mahathir's eagerly awaited appearance, the prosecution suddenly gave notice late this afternoon that it may raise objections relating to the relevance of the evidence that is sought to be adduced through the premier.

"I am getting worried. I am not objecting to the Prime Minister's testimony. I am only looking purely given a legal point of view," lead prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail said today. He urged judge Arifin Jaka to use his discretion to decide whether the evidence to be adduced by Mahathir is relevant to the trial.

Visibly angry and trying hard to keep his temper in check, defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo told the court that they have a valid reason to call Mahathir as "he has everything to do with Azizan."

Former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim and his adopted brother Sukma Dermawan Sasmitaat Madja are charged with sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar "on one night between January and March 1993 at 7.45pm". Sukma is also charged with abetting and aiding Anwar to sodomise the ex-driver.

Azizan, together with Ummi Hafilda Ali, the sister of Anwar's former private secretary Azmin Ali, wrote letters to Mahathir alleging that the jailed leader forced sex on Azizan. Initially dismissing the allegations as untrue, Mahathir later sacked his heir apparent and accused him of having low morals.

The Prime Minister had earlier told reporters that he has no problems appearing in court but stressed that he would only answer relevant questions relating to sodomy and not conspiracy as alleged by the defence team.

Gobind repeatedly told Arifin that Mahathir's presence is relevant to the sodomy trial. "We want him here. We know what we want to ask him," he told the judge who was fast losing his cool.

"Gobind, sit down. Don't be like a small boy," Arifin said.

Arifin reminded the defence team to maintain some order in the courtroom and suggested that they call Azizan to the witness stand first. Angered by Arifin's remarks, lead counsel Christopher Fernando said: "We have order. We choose the sequence. You (Arifin) cannot dictate the sequence to us."

Ignoring Fernando, Arifin said he did not think Mahathir should turn up in court tomorrow morning. Sensing Gobind's anger, he quickly said the defence could apply for the next course of action.

"We don't want to ask for a warrant of arrest," Gobind said. Yesterday, Fernando told malaysiakini that the defence might ask the court to issue a warrant of arrest if Mahathir fails to turn up in court. The defence had argued that Mahathir should be treated "just like other witnesses".

The court is expected to hear excruciating legal arguments tomorrow morning relating to the relevance of Mahathir's testimony to the sodomy trial. Gobind also told the court that defence would call Azizan and a few other witnesses after Mahathir.

Anwar is currently serving a six-year jail term for corruption and stands trial for sodomy and sexual misconduct. The jailed leader had repeatedly denied all charges and said they were cooked up by Mahathir's aides to topple him from power.