A-G applies to prosecute senior lawyer, 24 others for contempt

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail is said to have filed court papers to prosecute lawyer V.K. Lingam last week. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 25, 2014.Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has filed an application to prosecute lawyer Datuk V. K. Lingam and 24 others for alleging that a Federal Court bench had plagiarised its judgment.

This sudden about-turn by the A-G has caught lawyers for Lingam and the 24 respondents by surprise as in the last hearing on June 18, the A-G's Chambers supported an application by two liquidators to discontinue their contempt proceedings.

Federal Court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar, who is chairing a five-man bench, then lamented that the court seemed to have been scandalised and no one had stood up for them.

“We (the judges) have been the target (in this matter). I don’t think anybody can deny that. Go back and think about it. Come back with something more meaningful and with sufficient ground,” he had said.

Ooi Woon Chee and Ng Kim Tuck, the liquidators of Kian Joo Can Sdn Bhd (KJC) made an application to the court to abandon their action against the respondents but the court had asked them to reconsider.

Lawyer S. Suhendran, who represented Ooi and Ng, had informed the court that it was no longer a necessity to proceed with the contempt proceedings as the liquidators had distributed the Kian Joo assets, the subject matter of the long drawn legal battle spanning 19 years.

Lingam and another lawyer A. S. Thisinayagam, 12 majority and 11 minority contributories of Kian Joo, also supported the withdrawal application.

Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhasan, appearing for the A-G's Chambers, also told the court that he was supportive of the application.

However, lawyer Ranjit Singh, who held a watching brief for the Bar Council, objected as this was no longer a private matter.

A lawyer familiar with the case told the Malaysian Insider that Gani filed the court papers last week.

The applications by Gani and the liquidators were due to be heard in the Federal Court yesterday, but was adjourned as a lawyer appearing for Lingam was on medical leave.

The court has now fixed the case on August 7.

In a contempt case, the judges, the court, the Attorney-General or parties to a dispute could bring an action against those who showed disrespect to the bench.

The 25 respondents were ordered to answer contempt charges last year. They could be jailed, fined or both, if found guilty.

There is no limitation to the jail term or the amount of fine to be imposed. They could also walk away with a warning.

Since the matter is being heard in the Federal Court, the respondent has no right to appeal further.

Lingam (pic, left), a  senior lawyer, was previously implicated by a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) for judicial fixing.

In its report, the five-member RCI panel concluded that a video clip which showed Lingam speaking on the phone, was authentic, and that the person he was speaking to was former chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

The topic of their conversation was over the appointment of judges.

The commission had also recommended that appropriate action be taken against six individuals, namely Lingam, ex-chief justice Tun Eusoff Chin, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor for misconduct over the issue.

It also found that there was prima facie evidence to investigate the six men for offences under the Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act, the Penal Code and the Legal Profession Act.

Lingam has also been been hauled before the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board for professional misconduct and proceedings are on-going.

The legal tussle that led to the contempt proceedings in this latest case, began in 2009 when the respondents went to the High Court after Can-One International Sdn Bhd, a rival company won the tender to purchase the 32.9% stake in KJC.

The respondents failed in the High Court to stop Can-One from acquiring the shares.

However, the Court of Appeal reversed the decision and the case finally came to the Federal Court, which ruled in favour of the liquidators.

The 24 majority and minority contributries, represented by Lingam, filed a review in the Federal Court to relook at the decision by its previous panel.

Among them who filed the review were Datuk See Teow Chuan, a director of KJC, his brothers and sisters.

The reason being that the Federal Court’s 47-page judgment was substantially a reproduction of a written submission from lawyers who represented Ooi and Ng.

- TMI