The Bar Council has indirectly accepted the Court of Appeal's ruling against Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim by questioning why his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was not prosecuted, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim.

He said the Bar Council's inference that the verdict was unjustified as it criminalised consensual sexual relationship between two persons, unwittingly affirmed the act of sodomy involving Anwar.

"The Bar Council has attested that Saiful should have been charged together with Anwar.

"It questioned why Anwar was prosecuted, but Saiful goes unpunished," Razali told reporters after opening the Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Abu Bakar Parent-Teachers Association annual general meeting in Muar today.

Razali said mutual consent did not arise in the case involving Anwar as sodomy was an offence under the law and Saiful had taken the case to court to seek justice.  

The Bar Council, in a statement, contended that an offence under Section 377A of the Penal Code was only applicable if involved the use of threat of force, but in Anwar's case, it was consensual sexual relationship between two persons.

- Bernama