The extraordinary general meeting (EGM) slated to be held by the Bar Council on Oct 6 to discuss the status of the judiciary following the revelation of an explosive video clip has been postponed.

"The EGM will call for a royal commission of inquiry to be set up. Since the government has formed a panel to investigate, we want to see its findings first," said council vice-president Ragunath Kesavan when contacted today.

"We are not cancelling it, we are just postponing it. We don't want to call for an EGM now, and for another one later (if the council is dissatisfied with the panel's findings)," he added.

No new date has been fixed for the EGM pending the completion of the panel's probe.

Ragunath revealed that the council was considering sending a team of lawyers to hold a watching brief should the panel's investigation be carried out in the form of an inquiry.

Asked on how the Bar Council - the governing body of some 13,500 lawyers in the country - will keep up its pressure on the matter, he replied: "The pressure is now on the panel."

Historic march

It is understood that some lawyers have expressed their reservations on the need for the EGM following the successful Bar Council-led march, dubbed the 'Walk for Justice' on Wednesday.

The march, from the Palace of Justice to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office was participated by a strong crowd of 2,000 lawyers and members of the public.

It ended with the council bearers handing a memorandum to the premier calling for the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry to stem the slide in the judiciary.

The council also said on Wednesday that it will give the three-member panel set up by the government a chance although this fell short of its call for a royal commission.

The three-member panel is headed by former chief judge of Malaya, Haidar Mohd Noor. The other two are former appellate court judge Mahadev Shanker and social activist Lee Lam Thye.

The eight-minute edited video, said to be recorded in 2002, was revealed by opposition PKR last week. It showed senior lawyer VK Lingam talking on the phone, apparently brokering the appointment of judges with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who was the chief judge of Malaya then.

This sparked off an uproar in the legal fraternity and among the public.

The Bar Council has officially lodged a complaint with its disciplinary board yesterday against Lingam, who is said to be overseas until end of the month.

Ahmad Fairuz has also denied that it was him talking to Lingam in the clip. The denial was issued via de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.