Lingam-gate: Challenge to royal panel findings 'unprecedented'.....

Two former chief justices Eusoff Chin and Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim along with lawyer VK Lingam have obtain leave (permission) from the appellate court to challenge the findings of the royal commission on the 'Lingam-gate' incident. The matter will now revert to the Kuala Lumpur High Court's (Appellate and Special Powers division) to be heard on its merits.

Justice Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku Mahmud, who led a three-member panel at the Court of Appeals, announced the 2 to 1 decision this morning. The other judges were Justices Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus and Zaharah Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, Karpal Singh today criticised the appellate court's decision to allow three individuals to challenge the findings of the royal commission on the 'Lingam-gate'. A three-member Court of Appeals panel, in a 2-1 decision, gives permission to controversial lawyer VK Lingam and two former chief justices to challenge a royal commission which in 2008 recommended investigation by the authorities on six individuals, including the trio, over their role in fixing the appointment of top judges.

Apart from Lingam, the others were former chief justices Eusoff Chin and Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, tycoon Vincent Tan, Umno secretary-general and then minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Karpal said that the High Court was right in its earlier decision not to allow the trio leave to challenge the inquiry findings. He lamented that never before in Malaysia's history has a challenge been mounted on the findings of a royal commission.

"The Court of Appeal was wrong in its decision today to allow the appeal. What the authorities should do is to act on the recommendations and findings, and take action against the individuals involved," he said. With the appellate court decision today, the case has been reverted to the High Court to hear the trio's application.

Authorities sitting on their hands

Karpal noted that the authorities have failed to take the cue from the commission's recommendations. The senior lawyer had previously offered to prosecute Lingam under the Legal Profession Act, but the attorney-general did not take him up on this.

Karpal pointed out that in the Anwar Ibrahim black-eye incident, the authorities had acted on a recommendation by prosecuting former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor. "This is what should have been done (in Lingam's case)," he added.

On Dec 12, 2008, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had rejected the applications of Lingam, Eusoff, Ahmad Fairuz, Tan and Tengku Adnan to challenge the commission's findings. It ruled that the findings of the royal commission cannot be challenged.

Tan and Tengku Adnan withdrew their application before the appeals were jointly heard yesterday, while Mahathir did not seek a judicial review of the findings in the report.

source:malaysiakini

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