Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang are seeking to cite attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali for contempt.

This is because Apandi had referred to their application to challenge the charge against them even before the matter (application) is heard in court.

According to their lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdullah, the pair had submitted the application on Tuesday morning and Apandi commented on it during a press conference on the same day.

"While we were at the Kuala Lumpur High Court at 2pm on Tuesday to fix a date, Apandi was already making a press conference on this matter at 2.30pm.

"Hence, my clients instructed us to peruse with the view to cite Apandi for contempt," he added.

During the Tuesday press conference, Apandi had clarified that Khairuddin and Chang were charged under the Penal Code and not the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), which had prompted the application to challenge the charge.

The duo were charged under Section 124L of the Penal Code for allegedly attempting to sabotage Malaysia's banking and financial system with regard to filing reports on 1MDB abroad.

The pair were initially arrested under Sosma.

To this, Apandi had said Sosma was a procedural law that provided special measures to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of 'security offences'.

"The definition of 'security offences' makes it clear that Sosma is not limited to terrorism or terrorists," he had added.

Earlier, Haniff told the court that the charge imposed on Khairuddin and Chang did not fall under Sosma as Apandi claimed.

Another senior lawyer, Zainur Zakaria, representing the two, said the offence which his clients faced should come under the Penal Code and not Sosma.

Replying, DPP Masri Mohd Daud said the duo’s application was without any basis.

Later, High Court judge Azman Hussin said that since the issue may involve constitutional questions, it should be referred to the Federal Court .