A High Court application made by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to launch contempt of court action against sociopolitical blogger Alex Au Wai Pang has been adjourned for a day by Justice Belinda Ang.

This after one of Mr Au's lawyer, Mr Choo Zheng Xi, showed up for the closed-door hearing on Tuesday, even though his presence was not required. The ex parte, or one-sided, hearing allows the court to determine if the AGC has sufficient basis to proceed action against Mr Au, following which papers will be served and a hearing date will be set if permission is granted.

Justice Ang has directed parties to make submissions on whether the defence is allowed to oppose an application at the leave stage. The application will be heard in the High Court on Wednesday morning.

The AGC had said on Monday that it is applying for permission from the High Court to take legal action against Mr Au for two articles he wrote and published last month in this blog called Yawning Bread.

Mr Choo told The Straits Times: "At least we've got the foot in the door to be allowed to argue that we should be given the opportunity to oppose the application at the early stage. Alternatively, we could be allowed to hold a watching brief for our client, meaning that we sit in but we don't talk."