©The
Star (Used by permission)
by Cecil Fung
KUALA LUMPUR: Former chief justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has filed
for a judicial review to challenge the findings of the Royal Commission of
Inquiry into the V.K. Lingam video.
He is the fifth, and most likely last, person to seek to challenge the report,
which was submitted to the Yang Di–Pertuan Agong on May 9, a week before the
Government made it public. Ahmad Fairuz's application was filed on Wednesday
afternoon at the registry of the High Court's appellate and special powers
division through the firm of Firah, Wong & Cheong.
The former chief justice's daughter Datuk Muzaffirah Yurhaningseh Mazputri Ahmad
Fairuz is a partner of the firm.
Among other things, the commissioners found that the video clip was authentic
and that the phone conversation, which touched on the brokering of judicial
appointments, was true in substance.
It also found that it was Ahmad Fairuz talking to prominent lawyer Lingam on the
phone.
The commissioners recommended legal action be taken against those breaking the
law.
Lingam, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Barisan Nasional and Umno secretary–general
Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and former chief justice Tun Eusoff Chin
had earlier filed individual applications for judicial review.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he would not seek a judicial
review and joked that he was already “guilty” because the commission had based
its findings on possibilities.