15. Bar Council - Royal Commission

The Bar Council has reiterated its call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the video clip scandal.

Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan said it has always been the stand of the Bar Council that an independent panel like the one that had been set up recently "can only constitute the first step" in the wider process of ascertaining the facts and inferences.

"A Royal Commission is required this purpose, for the very reasons the panel has put forward about its powers and immunity, among other things," she said in a statement.

The three-man panel which met on Wednesday to determine the authenticity of the video-clip said it had no immunity, no legal powers and no powers to call witnesses though people could come forward on a voluntary basis.

Ambiga said the council was concerned over the narrow scope of the panel, its lack of powers and that it does not intend to invite people to come forward to assist the panel or give a statement.

"It has no powers to direct investigations, neither has it immunity," she said, adding that it would appear that the panel was wholly dependent on the investigations by other agencies.

She said the council hoped to raise these issues with the panel soon.

Ambiga said the action taken by ACA to find out about the whistleblower was worrying and most discouraging.

It showed the misplacement of focus and creates the impression that the authorities were more interested in going after the whistleblowers than discovering the truth of the alleged wrongdoings - The Star.