A lawyer's application challenging the government and the Malaysian Bar to allow him to hold his Bar Council posts despite his election into political office, will be heard by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Aug 22.

High Court judge Faiza Tamby Chik postponed lawyer R Sivarasa's application for a declaration that he has the right to his positions despite holding the post of vice-president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM).

The postponement is to give the parties ample time to discuss the matter before raising it in court, said Sivarasa.

Sivarasa is challenging a provision in the 1976 Legal Profession Act (LPA) which bars political party officials from being members of the Bar Council.

The Bar Council is the governing body of the Malaysian Bar and its 36 members are elected by ballot each year.

The 36 members manage the affairs of the Malaysian Bar and the proper performance of its functions.

According to section 46A of the LPA, Sivarasa has to relinquish all his positions in the Bar Council due to his election into political office.

Unworthy intention

Sivarasa said that he had named the Malaysian Bar as the first respondent to the application as they have direct and important interest in the issue.

However, he stressed that he is not suing the Bar for damages and costs.

"The Bar has in fact taken a stand that section 46A of the LPA was passed with the 'clear and wholly unworthy intention of muzzling the Malaysian Bar'," he said.

"I am taking the same position here with the added legal dimension that the section is unconstitutional and void. I hope the Bar will add its voice to mine in Court when arguments commence," he added.

Sivarasa filed his application on Aug 8 through his solicitor Tommy Thomas. The Bar Council is represented by Bastian Pius Vendargon and the government by senior federal counsels Alice Loke and Azizan Nawawi.

Sivarasa was elected to the Bar Council in 1998 and re-elected in 1999 and 2000. He has served in a number of committees including on human rights and legal aid.

He joined PRM on May 3, 1999, and served as the party's legal adviser in June the same year. He was appointed to the central committee and was appointed as vice-president on July 14 this year during the party's annual national congress.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (First Class Honours) from Universiti Malaya. He received a Rhodes Scholarship to read law in Oxford University in 1983.