The Selangor government will ask for a stay on Election Commission enquiries on the redelineation exercise in Peninsular Malaysia pending its application for leave (permission) for a judicial review.

Lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan said the state government will file the stay application at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur by Monday.

She explained that the EC can hold the enquiries within two years of the redelineation notice that was given on Sept 15 this year.

"Hence, this application for stay has to be filed to prevent the matter from being academic," Ambiga said.

After the stay application, the leave application for judicial review will be heard sometime in January, she added.

Senior federal counsel Maisarah Jauhari appeared for the EC.

The Selangor government on Oct 19 filed the judicial review application in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to stop the present redelineation exercise.

It wants the court to declare as null and void the EC's Sept 15 redelineation notice, its recommendations, the electoral rolls used in the redelineation exercise and the draft constituency plan for Selangor.

The state government also wants to compel the EC to publish a new notice with new recommendations that “truly” follow the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

In its application, it described the present exercise as unconstitutional and inconsistent with Article 113(2) and Sections 2(c) and 2(d) of the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.