KUALA LUMPUR: Two retired judges who were members of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip were biased, it was alleged in the High Court yesterday.

Datuk V.K. Lingam said Datuk Mahadev Shankar, a retired Court of Appeal judge, made disparaging remarks about him during the proceedings and Tan Sri Steven Shim Lip Kiong, a former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, was an interested party.

In 2001, Shim had recommended lawyer Dr Andrew Chew from Sibu, Sarawak, be appointed judge but the nomination was rejected. Chew's name was mentioned in the video clip.

Lingam, who was the central figure in the video clip controversy, told the court that he had supported an application by former chief justice Tun Eusoff Chin to disqualify Mahadev.

"The application was made by Eusoff on grounds that I had paid for and brought eye expert Dr Albert Edwards, from the Mayo Clinic, United States, to treat Mahadev," he said.
Lingam said Eusoff alleged that Mahadev had therefore obtained a financial benefit from him (Lingam) and therefore he was disqualified.

He said the application was heard on Feb 14, the last day of the inquiry, and Mahadev refused to recuse himself and instead made disparaging remarks against him, among others, stating that the disqualification was an attempt to scandalise and scuttle the proceedings.

Lingam further said that at the start of the inquiry on Jan 14, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's counsel R. Sivarasa had made an application to disqualify Shim on grounds that the retired judge's name was mentioned in the clip.

In the clip, it was stated that Shim obtained his Tan Sri title within a short period of his elevation as Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak compared to his predecessor Chong Siew Fai.

"He could have been called as a witness in the inquiry," Lingam said.

Lingam said Shim also made a decision not to disqualify himself but gave an undertaking that he would reconsider his position at some appropriate time in the course of proceedings.

He said Shim had a personal and vested interest in the appointment of Chew as High Court judge.

"Shim was unhappy and dissatisfied with the rejection of Chew. Shim, in a Dec 14, 2001, letter, decided to appeal the rejection," he said.

Lingam submitted that on the suggestion of Shim, the then chief justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah wrote to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to reconsider the rejection but to no avail.

"It is obvious that Shim had concealed these crucial facts and did not disclose them at the commencement of the inquiry.

"He, therefore, should have been disqualified," Lingam said.

In July, Lingam and four others -- tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, former minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and retired chief justices Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Eusoff -- filed separate leave applications for judicial review to quash the findings of the five-man commission led by former chief judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor.

Others in the commission were former solicitor-general Puan Sri Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh and academician Professor Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Khim.

The commission presented its report to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on May 9 and recommended that the five and Dr Mahathir be investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Sedition Act, the Legal Profession Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Penal Code.

The commission found that in the 14-minute video clip, it was revealed that Lingam was in conversation with Ahmad Fairuz over judicial appointments.

Hearing before judge Datuk Abdul Kadir Musa was adjourned to Sept 4.