Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose application to challenge the top two posts in the judiciary was struck out by the High Court three months ago, has now been allowed to hold a watching brief in the March 2 Malaysian Bar proceeding in the Federal Court.

This was disclosed by Mahathir's lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla during case management of the Malaysian Bar and the Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) cases before the Federal Court today.

The Malaysian Bar is seeking a nine-to-11-member bench of retired Federal Court judges to hear its challenge against the appointments of Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal President Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin beyond the mandatory constitutional retirement age of 66 years and six months...