KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): Senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his hand was not fractured as earlier claimed following x-ray checks but there is a swelling of his blood capillary.

Shafee said his specialist doctor initially thought he suffered a fracture but on further examination it was diagnosed that he has "a soft tissue and the swelling of the blood capillary".

He explained to reporters after covering former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's cases at the High Court that his injury was inflicted on Monday after his pet dog jumped on him and he fell.

Shafee further explained that the dog is a 10-month-old guard dog in training and is quite playful.

"We have an old guard dog inside (the house) with the 10-month-old guard dog, and several guard dogs outside," he added.

He said the bruise became unbearable early Tuesday morning just as he woke up to prepare for his cases.

Yesterday, it was reported that he sought an adjournment at the Court of Appeal as a result of the injury. He was scheduled to submit the last issue of Najib's appeal regarding what they claimed is an improper procedure in the transfer of the ex-premier's case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.

He told the appellate bench that he suffered a fracture to his hand although he proceeded to appear for Samira Muzaffar's case involving the death of Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan in Shah Alam High Court and later went to the Court of Appeal.

The senior lawyer said he could not meet a specialist doctor at Columbia Hospital in Shah Alam yesterday as the specialist was unavailable, and thus he proceeded to appear for Samira's and Najib's cases.

Shafee added today that when he arrived at the appellate court yesterday the bruise on his hand worsen to the size of a "tennis ball" resulting in his co-counsel Havinderjit Singh suggesting that he see a specialist immediately.

"I left the court after informing the bench of the injury and went to see a doctor in Putrajaya," he said.

"I did not ask for the case to be postponed till Friday as I told the bench that I was prepared to have the case today. However, the attorney general (Tommy Thomas) cannot do it on Thursday. So the court decided to proceed on Friday morning," he explained further.

Yesterday the bench led by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof said they were against hearing the appeal today as the three of them will be sitting in different panels for other cases.