VK Lingam faces contempt charge

The lawyer had accused a Federal Court panel of plagiarism in a judgment against his clients

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has decided that lawyer VK Lingam and his clients can be cited for contempt of court for alleging that an earlier panel of the court had committed plagiarism.

A five-man panel headed by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria today allowed the ex parte application after hearing submissions by Cecil Abraham, representing liquidators of the family investment company Kian Joo Holdings Sdn Bhd (KJH).

Lingam’s 12 clients were the majority contributories of KJH, which a High Court ordered to wind up in 1996. They include See Teow Chuan, the former group managing director of Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd (KJCF). Ooi Woon Chee and Ng Kim Tuck were appointed liquidators of KJH.

In 2009, Lingam’s clients filed an application at the High Court to stop a company called Can-One Bhd from acquiring a a 32.9% stake in KJCF. They failed, but the Court of Appeal subsequently reversed the High Court decision.

The case was then brought to the Federal Court, which on Jan 5 this year ruled that the liquidators could proceed with the sale of the shares to Can-One.

Lingam, acting for the 12, then filed a notice of motion seeking a Federal Court review of the previous panel’s decision. The applicants sought a rehearing of the appeal before a new Federal Court panel.

In the notice of motion, they claimed that the Federal Court, in its written judgment against them, substantially reproduced a written submission by Ooi and Ng without attribution. They alleged that the court did not conduct an independent and impartial review of the evidence and the law.

Today’s panel ruled that Abraham had made a prima facie case against Linggam and his clients.

Arifin said the panel would convene on April 13 to hear Lingam’s submission.

Abraham had submitted that there was no proof of actual bias on the part of the court. “It’s a serious attack on the judiciary and there is no evidence that the Federal Court was impartial in its decision,” he said.

Federal Counsel Azizah Nawawi, who acted on behalf of the Attorney-General’s office, agreed with Abraham.