> Fairuz: Panel pre-judged identity of speaker

Former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim contended that the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the VK Lingam video clip had prejudged the identity of the speaker in the “controversial” clip.

Lead counsel Datuk Mahinder Singh Dulku for Ahmad Fairuz said the Commission had done so when it wrote:

“The whole country then was in no doubt who the person was” in its report.

“If this statement is not pre-judgment, then I do not know,” he submitted to High Court Justice Abdul Kadir Musa yesterday.

Mahinder Singh argued that the statement alone entitled the court to grant leave for a judicial review over the findings.

“What is the use of an inquiry?

“It will be useless exercise as they have prejudged the issues.”

Mahinder Singh said the Commission lost its focus by going beyond its terms of reference when writing up its findings.

On July 16, Senior Federal Counsel Azizah Nawawi had objected to the leave application by prominent lawyer Datuk VK Lingam, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Barisan Nasional and Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and former Chief Justices Tun Eusoff Chin and Ahmad Fairuz.

They want to quash the parts of the report which implicate them.

She had argued the Commission did not make any binding or conclusive decisions and that its findings and recommendations could not be reviewed,

Continuing his submission, Mahinder Singh cited the following passages as alleged “pre-judgment”:

“If indeed it was not TAF (Tun Ahmad Fairuz) at the other end of the (phone) line, and this was a fabrication as asserted by TAF, what was his excuse for not taking the most immediate and concrete action to clear the air viz. to haul up DVKL (Lingam) and demand a public explanation?

“His answer is that on 19 Sept 2001 the video clip he saw was not very clear and he was not sure if it was in fact DVKL on the video clip. The whole country then was in no doubt who the person was.”

He said that SFC Azizah’s objection was without merit as the Commission’s findings were in fact a decision which could be reviewed.

SFC Azizah will make her reply on Oct 28 -The Star.

At stake are all the judiciaries and royal commissions of the world. Hey you look-alike and talk-alike impostor, please own up for justice sake! - My Journal.