Newly-minted Bar Council chairperson Steven Thiru said the body is looking into referring veteran lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to its disciplinary board for his conduct.

"We have already been looking into it," Thiru told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

However, he said, the Bar Council was studying the matter and was yet to make decision.

He added that according to procedure, Shafee may be called to provide an explanation before being referred for disciplinary action.

The Malaysian Bar annual general assembly was to discuss Shafee's conduct in a motion today, but it was prevented from doing so after the veteran lawyer obtained an ex-parte injunction from the High Court yesterday, barring the council from discussing it.

Thiru ( left ) said the Bar Council is also looking at challenging the injunction.

"It will be an instruction to challenge that decision and apply for it to be set aside, but we will be guided by our counsels' advice," he said.

Even though Thiru acknowledged that the annual general meeting (AGM) was over, he said challenging the injunction was a matter of principle.

"I don't think this is academic, it is an important principle for us," he said.

Spotlight had fallen on Shafee over his conduct after helping the Attorney-General's Chambers secured a conviction against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy.

Following the court victory, Shafee went on a roadshow and publicly disclosed what was purportedly in camera evidence from the court case.

Among them include information where Shafee claimed Anwar had pinched complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's nipple as part of foreplay before the sexual act.

Thiru said it was unfortunate that Shafee had blocked the AGM from discussing his conduct and contrasted this with how outgoing Bar president Christopher Leong had conducted himself.

Leong, too, faced a motion calling for his censure for saying that Anwar's conviction was a "persecution" but the motion was debated and overwhelmingly defeated.

"Shafee has been very willing to debate the matter in public including on RTM, but it is disappointing that he had chosen not to come to debate with his peers at the Malaysian Bar by obtaining an ex-parte injunction.”

On a separate matter, Thiru dismissed calls for an alternative Bar Council, stressing that the legal body has remained independent since its inception before the country's creation.