Malaysia judge got gifts from lawyer, inquiry told

(The article is taken from the South China Morning Post of 5 February 2008, by Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, for reference ओनली)

A high-profile lawyer accused of manipulating judicial appointments gave expensive gifts to Malaysia's former top judge and offered to buy him a house, the lawyer's brother told a public inquiry yesterday।

The government-ordered inquiry is investigating whether V।K. Lingam, a well-known lawyer, used his influence with politicians to rig the appointment of senior judges – a claim that as severely embarrassed the judiciary.

The other key figure in the investigation is Eusoff Chin, Malaysia's chief justice between 1994 and 2000, who is said to have been close to Mr। Lingam.

The scandal surfaced when opposition politicians leaked a video in September that showed Mr। Lingam allegedly speaking on the phone in 2001 with another former top judge Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim about the promotion of judges.

Mr। Lingam's brother, Thirunama Karasu, testified that he drove Mr. Lingam to Mr. Eusoff's home seven or eight times in 1995, possibly to discuss cases, and that he once personally delivered to Mr. Eusoff a handbag and wallet that Mr. Lingam bought from Italy.

Mr। Thirunama also claimed he was with Mr. Lingam and Mr. Eusoff when they surveyed a house in Kuala Lumpur that Mr. Lingam planned to buy for Mr. Eusoff in 1995. Mr. Eusoff declined the place because he wanted a bigger one, Mr. Thirunama said.

Both Mr। Lingam and Mr. Eusoff have denied the accusations, with Mr. Lingam claiming his brother was unstable.

Mr। Thirunama said on Monday he “wasn't delusional”, and that he was “110 per cent sure I'm not mad”.

Comments: We hear occasionally that some Chinese litigation lawyers expect to form special relationship with judges in order to win cases. But we have never heard in China a lawyer can extend his powerful influence to select senior judges. Malaysian lawyers “step one forward” than their Chinese counterparts. We are happy to see as well that the Malaysian government is a hopeful country to some extents from revelations of the case, no matter it is for political reasons or simply purifying its indecent judiciary system.