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©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Tan Yi Liang

PETALING JAYA: Those implicated in the V.K. Lingam tape scandal can only be investigated and prosecuted by the attorney-general.

According to Bar Council vice president Ragunath Kesavan, only the attorney-general has the power to prosecute for an offence. Commenting on a call by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for a special prosecutor, and not Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, to investigate those implicated – as well as calls for the re-opening of the investigations into the New Zealand holiday of lawyer Lingam and former chief justice Tun Eusoff Chin – Ragunath said: “It (the appointment of a special prosecutor) has never been done and it is difficult for one to be appointed because the powers to prosecute under the Constitution rest in the hands of the attorney-general.”

However, he said, there exist provisions to appoint lawyers to conduct a prosecution, adding that the appointment of a special prosecutor is an issue of public confidence.

“Previously, bodies like the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the attorney-general had given tacit clearance of any criminal liability on the part of Lingam and, therefore, the call for a special prosecutor is one of public confidence,” he said.

“What is needed is a more thorough investigation, based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

“What the Bar Council would suggest is that a high-level investigation team be formed, made up of senior ACA officers and police, and led by a senior prosecutor.”

He said it would be “insufficient” to leave the investigations to the ACA.

“It would be insufficient to merely leave it to the ACA. The attorney-general should set up the special team because only the attorney-general can prosecute, so he must set up this team.

“The evidence forwarded before the commission was incomplete. A complete look needs to be taken at all the phone records and all the travel records between Malaysia and New Zealand, as well as the disclosure of the letters covered under the Official Secrets Act.

The frequency in which Lingam appeared before Eusofff Chin needs to be investigated as well, and the possibility of bias needs to be examined.”

Ragunath said the Bar Council had lodged a complaint with the Advocates and Solicitors Discipline Board against Lingam.

He said the penalties, if any, will be left to the board to decide.

“The penalties will be left to the board, but he can be struck off as a lawyer, suspended from practice, or fined,” he said.

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