KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian federal court has rejected an application by the Catholic Church to reverse an earlier decision which denies it from using the word "Allah" in its publication.

A five-member panel unanimously decided against granting the review application on Wednesday, putting an end to a long battle over the use of the word in Catholic weekly The Herald.

The panel held that there has been no procedural unfairness in the earlier decision not to grant such a leave, and that the threshold for the review had not been met, Malaysian Insider reported.

In 2007, Malaysia banned Christian churches from using “Allah” in its publications. But the Catholic Church successfully sued in High Court to undo the ban. --The Straits Times