PUTRAJAYA (Aug 7): Could Federal Court Justice Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed, who is doing the job as Chief Judge of Malaya, be confirmed to take the post tomorrow?

It is observed Justice Azahar's placement of seating in today's case on the bench and yesterday where he is seen seated to the right of Chief Justice Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Datuk David Wong Dak Wah, who is seated on Tengku Maimun's left may indicate so.

The seating or position of the judges denotes the seniority in the rank of judicial officers and Justice Azahar's placement to the right of Tengku Maimun may indicate he is the second most senior judge on the bench, and this will lead to speculations and theedgemarkets.com's observation that he will be confirmed to the post tomorrow.

Tomorrow the new Chief Judge of Malaya, the third senior most post in the judiciary, will be sworn in.

The post had been vacant following the retirement of Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim in May, and Justice Azahar had been appointed as acting CJ of Malaya until an announcement is made.

Several news portals had already announced Justice Azahar to be the next CJ of Malaya.

An event is scheduled to be held tomorrow afternoon where the new CJ of Malaya would be given the instrument of appointment and take the oath before Tengku Maimun, and several new Federal Court, Court of Appeal judges will be elevated.

Justice Azahar, 62, is presently the second most senior judge at the Federal Court and prior to his appointment as a judge he was a deputy public prosecutor (DPP).

As a DPP, he is known to be among the team of prosecutors that prosecuted former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the abuse of power and sodomy I case.

Justice Azahar was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner of the High Court on Aug 1, 2004 and was confirmed on July 27, 2006.

He was elevated to the Court of Appeal on May 11, 2011 and moved up to the Federal Court on September 2014.