Lawyer: Ku Nan should be granted the right

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor should be granted the right to seek a judicial review on the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the V.K. Lingam video clip.

Lawyer Datuk Bastian Vendargon said that his client, Tengku Adnan, was entitled to do so under the Rules of the High Court.

“Order 53 Rule 2(4) of the Rules of the High Court 1980 provides that ‘any person who is adversely affected by the decision of any public authority should be entitled to make the application’,” he said.

He said Tengku Adnan, the Barisan Nasional and Umno secretary-general, had been affected by the commission’s finding in that “his reputation is damaged and he is also exposed to the possibility of criminal proceedings”.

To the question of whether the findings of the Royal Commission was amendable “must be viewed in the light of current prevailing authorities and jurisprudence.”

He said this when arguing in his application for leave for judicial review to quash the commission’s findings in May that implicated six persons.

The report had recommended that the six be investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Sedition Act, the Legal Profession Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Penal Code.

The six are Tengku Adnan, lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, former Chief Justices Tun Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

All except Dr Mahathir are seeking judicial review of the findings.

Previously, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, represented by Senior Federal Counsel Azizah Nawawi, had objected to the leave application saying that the commission's findings cannot be challenged or reviewed.

High Court judge Justice Abdul Kadir Musa set Sept 9 for continuation of the hearing.

-TMB