High Court judge Kamaladin Md Said dismissed Lingam’s appeal against a 2015 decision by the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board to strike off his name from the roll.
“The court is satisfied that his appeal has no merit, and maintains the disciplinary board’s decision,” he said in a brief written judgment made available before the High Court registrar.
The court also ordered Lingam to pay RM5,000 in costs.
Lingam was implicated in a judicial fixing scandal by a 2007 Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI).
The RCI panel had recommended that action for misconduct be taken against him, then-chief judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, former chief justice Eusoff Chin, tycoon Vincent Tan, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.
The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board affirmed the committee’s decision in finding Lingam guilty of involvement in judicial fixing, and barred him from practising law.
During his appeal hearing in the High Court, Lingam claimed the video evidence used against him during the Bar Council disciplinary inquiry was not authentic and might have been taken out of context.
Lingam has been out of Malaysia for more than six years and is currently believed to be in the US for medical treatment.
He 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 a 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 charges and were fined a total of RM2.15 million.
Video used against VK Lingam in disciplinary inquiry not authentic, court told