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©New Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Lydia Gomez

KUALA LUMPUR: A former Certificate in Legal Practice examination director was found guilty yesterday of falsifying the results of the 2001 CLP examination for monetary gain.

Khalid Yusof, a former Universiti Teknologi Mara law faculty dean, was also convicted of deceiving the qualifying board into believing that the examination master list contained marks awarded by CLP examiners.

He also induced the board to approve the list at the board’s office at Menara Tun Razak in Jalan Raja Laut between August and Sept 13, 2001.

Sessions Court judge Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal said Khalid had no authority to carry out "moderation" or upgrading of marks which resulted in the board approving the 2001 July CLP examination results.

Khalid had increased the passing rate from 12 per cent to 25 per cent.

"His reasons as to why he altered the marks without informing the qualifying board were bizarre and mind-boggling," said Harmindar who fixed Monday for sentencing.

When he was ordered to enter his defence in June last year, Khalid, 57, claimed that he did not know of the existence of a marking scheme and that he had done the moderation with good intent.

The defence had also claimed that the marks were finalised, moderated or adjusted not by him alone but together with two others from the Examination Review Board.

"If he did not have the guidelines, he should have known that he had to refer the matter to the qualifying board. He should not have thought that he had a blank cheque to do what he liked.

"Even marking of scripts in pencil must be referred to the board. He is an employee of the board and is answerable to it," Harmindar said.

Harmindar added that Khalid’s failure to disclose further details during an internal inquiry headed by judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail on why he had "tampered" with the marks showed his dishonest intent to conceal the upgrading.

"There is no doubt that the accused acted on his own and kept the board in the dark. He knew that maintaining the passing rate was a policy issue that could only be decided by the qualifying board," he said.

Counsel Jagjit Singh asked for a postponement of mitigation and sentencing as he was not prepared.

But deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran objected saying that Khalid could abscond during the waiting period. Harmindar, however, rejected the prosecutor’s objection stating that Khalid had been present on all court dates.

After proceedings were over, Khalid was seen being consoled by Jagjit and fellow counsel Akbardin Abdul Kader.

Family members and relatives were seen crying outside the courtroom.

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