Former Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan has withdrawn his habeas corpus application to challenge his detention under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.

His lawyer, Mohd Hanif Khatri Abdulla, said this is because his charge under section 124L of the Penal Code yesterday, had rendered the legal challenge academic in law.

"But we are not giving up... We will file a motion today to determine whether Section 124L falls under Sosma.

"If it does not, then both Khairuddin and Matthias Chang can be granted bail," Mohd Hanif told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

The review application was made by a notice of motion, supported by an affidavit and a letter of urgency.

The lawyers hope to get the review soon.

A review application they made yesterday was thrown out because it did not follow proper procedure.

Khairuddin and Chang ( photo ) were charged for attempting to sabotage the country's banking and financial services sector yesterday in a Magistrate’s court.

They are now being held in Sungai Buloh prison and it is this detention that will now be challenged.

Chang did not file for habeas corpus, as his application scheduled for yesterday was derailed by the attempted sabotage charge.

"For our clients, yesterday's charge was a moral victory. They (the government) did not wish today's application to proceed. They did not want to answer what was wrong," Mohd Hanif said.

Khairuddin and Chang were arrested under Sosma for filing multiple police reports against 1MDB overseas.

If found guilty, they face up to 15 years in prison.

The prosecution has been given until Oct 26 to compile evidence and sanction the case under Sosma.