No more than 24 hours after Karpal Singh marked his return to Parliament in a
wheelchair, the opposition politician was involved in a free-for-all shouting
match with rival M Kayveas.

Karpal (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) called on Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Kayveas to step down following revelation that the Bar Council had taken disciplinary action against the latter.

Debating on the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2005 in Parliament this morning, Karpal disclosed that Kayveas, who is a former lawyer, was slapped with a RM5,000 fine as stated in the March issue of Infoline, a bulletin of the Bar Council. The bulletin however did not give the reason for the fine.

(Kayveas told reporters later that he was fined for "breach of professional conduct" relating to a sales and purchase agreement of a factory several years back but claimed he was innocent.)

"If he could not be trusted as a lawyer, how could he be trusted as a deputy minister?" the wheelchair-bound Karpal told the House.

This prompted Kayveas to retort: "This person is looking for trouble, he just returned to the House, (he has) no issue to speak. I had stopped my legal practice for a long time. Rest for a while, don't waste time in Parliament here."

"Now you are on a wheelchair, after this... don't know what will happen," he added.

He also challenged Karpal to repeat the statement outside Parliament instead of hiding behind parliamentary privilege.

However, Karpal continued to challenge Kayveas to explain the matter and at one point, Kayveas seemed to relent by requesting to talk to Karpal outside the House over the action against him.

"All I said is based on facts published in Infoline. He is a liar, don't play the fool with DAP. I hope action will be taken against this idiot (celaka)," Karpal urged.

However, Karpal later retracted the word celaka after being instructed by Deputy Speaker Lim Si Cheng.

Zaid hammered too

Karpal, who returned to the House yesterday after serving his six-month suspension and recovering from a spine injury sustained in an accident also attacked another lawyer Zaid Ibrahim (BN-Kota Baru) who was recently suspended by Umno for three years.

The DAP leader said Zaid has lost his qualification to sit in the House as an MP because he was suspended for three years by Umno disciplinary board for "money politics".

Zaid immediately interrupted and clarified he was not suspended due to money politics but the suspension was due to his open criticism against the disciplinary board.

When the chair pointed out to Karpal that he was not debating on the bill amendment, Karpal argued, "No, it is relevant because a lawyer could also be the financial advisor and this will definitely involve issues of morality and integrity."

In a press conference later, Kayveas reiterated he was not involved in any dishonest dealings but the action taken against him was "merely due to professional negligence".

Kayveas insisted that his firm, Messrs Blanche & Kayveas was indeed the victim in the controversy and said he was appealing against the decision by the Bar Council disciplinary board. He added that he has quit practicing as a lawyer in 2001.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Parliament turned merry when DAP MPs gave Karpal a surprise birthday celebration for his 65 birthday at the Parliament lounge this morning. Family members, party colleagues and several BN leaders were present.

He said his birthday resolution was to fight for the rights of the people as effectively as possible as well as to work towards a speedy recovery of his spine injury.