Controversy-ridden lawyer VK Lingam today described his enstranged brother, who had leveled numerous accusations of judicial corruption against him, as being delusional.

In a statement, Lingam said his younger brother VK Thirunama Karasu, 50, is suffering from "hallucinations, strong suicidal tendencies, delusions and major depression".

In view of this, he argued that Thirunama's alleged mental condition rendered his allegations baseless.

"He has suffered this condition well before 1998," said the lawyer.

"He is prone to violent conduct manifested by assaults upon his siblings, wife and children and even lost his job at Tenaga Nasional Berhad for assaulting a colleague."

In March, Thirunama lodged two police reports alleging judicial corruption and revealed inside information of the senior lawyer's cozy relationship with top judges, some of whom have since retired.

Lingam claimed that his brother made similar allegations against him in 1998 and lodged reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency and the police but investigations were dropped because of the latter's alleged mental condition.

"About the same time, Thirunama also made the same allegations to several prominent individuals, all of whom obviously declined to take matters further as they would also have realised my brother's mental state," he added.

Being exploited

Lingam also claimed that certain parties were exploiting his brother for their own interest.

According to the lawyer, he and his brother "have fallen out" since late 1997 due to differences over family issues.

This, he noted, might also be one of the reasons why Thirunama made the allegations and lodged the police reports against him.

Thirunama lodged his first report with the Kelana Jaya police station in Selangor on March 16 against Lingam and several others for alleged corruption.

He filed a second report in Brickfields on March 19 because, according to him, the investigating officer in Kelana Jaya had refused to record his statement in detail.

Yesterday, Malaysian Democratic Party (MDP) secretary-general Wee Choo Keong revealed copies of the police report during a press conference.

In September, Lingam became a household name following the release of a video clip showing him discussing the appointment of friendly judges over the telephone.

It was said that the person at the other end was former chief justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who retired last month. Ahmad Fairuz has since denied this.

Last week, the government has decided to form a royal commission to look into this matter.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape