The Kuala Lumpur High Court will decide on Wednesday whether to allow Dr Mahathir Mohamad's judicial review to recuse former chief justice Md Raus Sharif and two others from chairing a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) over the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge.

The civil court verdict is a mere hour before the RCI at Putrajaya is set to subpoena the former prime minister to attend the inquiry over whether Malaysia should have withdrawn its appeal against a 2008 International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision.

The ICJ ruling awarded sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh to...