Council of Eminent Persons chairperson Daim Zainuddin has allegedly demanded the resignations of Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin.
Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram claimed it was "an open secret" that this occurred during a meeting at Daim's private office.
It is unclear when the meeting occurred. Malaysiakini has contacted Raus and sources close to Daim for confirmation.
Sri Ram said Daim should not have demanded Raus and Zulkefli's resignations, adding that it was unconstitutional for anyone other than the prime minister to summon the head of the judiciary.
"Although this may have been motivated by the best of intentions, what happened is quite wrong.
"Daim is not the prime minister, and even if he had been asked by the prime minister to do what he did, he should have declined and left it to the attorney-general, the prime minister and the cabinet to handle this.
"After all, we do not want to return to the old days when there was no respect for the separation of powers and the due observance of constitutional requirements," Sri Ram said in an email to Malaysiakini.
The senior lawyer said that by "acceding" to Daim's invitation, Raus and Zulkefli had only made matters worse.
"With respect, had they believed that their continued occupation of their respective office was justified, they should have dignifiedly declined the invitation," he said.
Raus and Zulkefli's current appointments as chief justice and appellate court president respectively have attracted controversy.
This is due to the fact that their tenures were extended beyond the mandatory age of retirement for federal judges. The method through which the extensions were given was also questionable.
Sri Ram said that if the duo had rejected their extension they would not have had to suffer the "humiliation" of being treated "no better than office boys."
As such, he urged the duo to resign at once. Alternatively, he added, the attorney-general should inform the courts that the government no longer supported their appointments as constitutional. -Mkini
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