Anwar Ibrahim's lawyer has refuted the claim that his client "threatened" the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Bank Negara's foreign exchange (forex) losses.

N Surendran claimed the allegation by Special Affairs Department (Jasa) advisory panel member Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz was “baseless, absurd and misguided”.

He said Anwar had issued a statement on Aug 23 to rebut portions of Murad Abd Khalid's testimony to the RCI.

"It is a basic principle that a rebuttal of evidence can never amount to 'threatening or insulting' the witness.

"Anwar was the finance minister at the material time and therefore an important potential witness," Surendran added.

He argued that at the material time, the RCI refused to confirm if Anwar would be called as a witness, despite repeated applications to do so.

"Hence, as it was a matter of public interest, Anwar was compelled to state the truth of the matter by way of a statement to the public. Only subsequent to this was Anwar allowed to testify at the RCI," he said.

Tun Faisal had accused Anwar of violating Section 12(2) of the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 for issuing a statement to rebut Murad.

This followed allegations that Jasa director-general Mohd Puad Zarkashi had violated the same law by alleging that former Bank Negara advisor Nor Mohamed Yakcop's testimony to the RCI was an attempt to shield former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his then deputy Anwar.

Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram and several other lawyers have also opined that Puad had violated Section 12(2).