Under attack for allegedly fixing judicial appointments with a senior lawyer,
Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim continues to remain tight-lipped
over the issue.
The two-paragraph fax from Ahmad Fairuz’s special assistant Arleen Ramly which
reached Malaysiakini office at 4:55pm bore a simple sentence - “he has no
comments”.
In a fax addressed to CJ’s Putrajaya office yesterday, Malaysiakini asked
for Ahmad Fairuz’s response to the judiciary scandal that was revealed by PKR de
facto leader Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday.
The explosive video clip released showed senior lawyer VK Lingam in a phone
conversation, purportedly with Ahmad Fairuz, allegedly fixing the appointment of
‘friendly’ senior judges.
The eight-minute clip - said to be originally 14 minutes - was recorded sometime
in 2002 when Ahmad Fairuz was the Chief Judge of Malaya.
The recording shows Lingam, who was sporting a moustache, walking up and down in
a room, talking into a mobile phone.
The inference from the discussion was that “key players” should be nominated for
judicial appointments in order to hear cases and deliver judgments accordingly.
A main point of the conversation - believed to be with Ahmad Fairuz in the
context of the conversation - was that there appeared to be two camps in the
judiciary belonging respectively to former CJ Eusoff Chin and his successor,
Mohamad Dzaiddin Abdullah.
Dzaiddin was to retire in 2003, and the video showed Lingam expressing concerned
that the outgoing CJ was moving his ‘men’ into top judiciary posts.
Quit call gains momentum
To ensure that the ‘right’ judge were in the top positions, Lingam had roped in
tycoon Vincent Tan, a close crony of then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad,
and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a key minister in the PM’s Department.
They were to talk to Mahathir on the appointment of judges.
Ahmad Fairuz has not made any statements since the scandal surfaced but calls
for him to resign or be suspended under Article 125 of the Constitution - which
allows the removal of a Federal Court judge in the case of ethical breach - have
been gaining momentum.
Meanwhile, the 12,000-strong Bar Council has described the video as “shocking
and disturbing” and an emergency meeting will be convened tomorrow to discuss
the matter.
Also, two former Transparency International Malaysia presidents Param
Cumaraswamy and Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim have lodged a complaint with the
Anti-Corruption Agency yesterday over allegations of corruption and professional
misconduct found in a poison pen letter.
The three-page poison pen letter which detailed various allegations of
extravagant claims, favouritism, abuse of power, corruption and judgment fixing
by Ahmad Fairuz.
Laden with typos, the letter written in English, also alleged professional
misconduct by other judges currently sitting on the bench.
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Talk on Intellectual Property Law (10 Feb 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, the talk on “Intellectual Property Law” will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 10 Feb 2012 (Friday). The talk will feature Bahari Yeow Tien Hong. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on the Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Proceedings (21 Feb 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, the seminar on “The Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Proceedings”, featuring Sanjeev Kumar Rasiah, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 21 Feb 2012 (Tuesday). Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on the Fundamentals of Conveyancing (24 Feb 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar featuring Jeremiah R Gurusamy will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 24 Feb 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Mediation Skills Training Course (29 Feb to 4 Mar 2012) Organised by Bar Council, the Mediation Skills Training Course will take place at 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, at Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 29 Feb to 4 Mar 2012 (Wednesday to Sunday). Deadline for registration and payment is 17 Feb 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on “Land Fraud: An Australian Perspective” (13 Mar 2012) Organised by IGIL, GSGSG and UUM COLGIS, this free talk featuring Quintin George Rozario of Delta Law, Brisbane, Australia, will take place at 9:00 am, at Dewan Seminar A, Pusat Konvensyen, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, on 13 Mar 2012 (Tuesday). To RSVP, contact Mr Abutt (04-928 4397; abutt@uum.edu.my).
News 
Under attack for allegedly fixing judicial appointments with a senior lawyer,
Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim continues to remain tight-lipped
over the issue.
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Circular No 021/2012: Application to State Authority for Consent to Transfer Properties
