Lawyer R Thayalan, representing him in his appeal at the High Court against the 2015 decision by the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board to strike off his name from the roll, said the video recording presented was not the original and that it might have been taken out of context.
“The video produced during the inquiry hearing was not the full video but only part of it. Experts who testified in the inquiry said the video was created in 2007, but Low Gwo Burne told the inquiry he shot the video in 2001 when he went to Lingam’s house with his father,” he said, referring to the former Kelana Jaya MP, who shot the recording of Lingam talking on the phone with another person alleged to be the then chief judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.
Thayalan also said no audio analysis had been tendered to the disciplinary committee to identify the person talking as Lingam, and that there was no evidence to show Lingam had spoken to Fairuz.
“Fairuz was also not called to testify, and Lingam told the inquiry that he did not speak to Fairuz,” he added.
Lingam was implicated by a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in 2007 over a judicial fixing scandal.
The RCI panel had recommended that action be taken against him, Fairuz, former chief justice Eusoff Chin, tycoon Vincent Tan, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and cabinet minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor for misconduct.
The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board affirmed the disciplinary committee’s decision in finding Lingam guilty of involvement in judicial fixing, and barred him from practicing law.
Lingam has been out of Malaysia for more than six years and is currently believed to be in the United States for medical treatment.
Lawyer for the Bar Council, Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, argued before the court that direct evidence from Low and his late father Mui Fah at the inquiry showed they were at Lingam’s house when he spoke on the phone with Fairuz.
“He admitted the father and son were at his house but when questions on the phone conversation were asked, he linked it to the video’s validity,” he said.
High Court judge Justice Kamaludin Md Said fixed April 2 for decision.
Lingam was jailed six months by the Federal Court for contempt, in absence, last November for claiming that a Federal Court bench had plagiarised its written grounds in delivering judgment on a civil case six years ago. The court found the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Lingam along with another lawyer, and 24 family members and directors of Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd were accused of contempt in the case. The lawyer, TC Nayagam, and the 24 directors pleaded guilty to the contempt charges and were fined a total of RM2.15 million.