A series of letters between former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and ex-Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah between October 2001 and January 2002 gave an insight as to how judges were appointed.

These highly confidential letters, which were declassified and released to the royal commission of inquiry into the Lingam tape yesterday, showed a glimpse of how Mahathir can decide who to appoint as a judge and who to discard.

In one such letter, Mahathir did not explain why he dropped two candidates for the High Court positions in 2001 despite the names being forwarded twice to him.

Former chief secretary to the government Samsudin Osman, who testified before the inquiry yesterday and was privy to the letters, had confirmed the letters and their contents.

The inquiry was told yesterday that in one letter dated Oct 2, 2001, Mohamed Dzaiddin had recommended five names to Mahathir to be appointed to the High Court.

The five were the then solicitor-general Heliliah Yusof, judicial commissioners Ramly Ali and Ahmad Maarop, and senior lawyers Andrew Chew and Zainudin Ismail.

Vacancies not filled

However in a reply to Mohamed Dzaiddin on Dec 5, 2001, Mahathir had only agreed to the recommendations of Heliliah, Ramly and Ahmad.

“Besides that, I would like to recommend two out of the five serving judicial commissioners below to be appointed as High Court judges,” Mahathir wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Malaysiakini. (See letter here)

Mahathir’s recommendation consisted of Zakaria Sam, Su Geok Yam, Sulaiman Daud, Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad and VT Singam.

Subsequently on Jan 11, 2002, the ex-CJ responded to Mahathir’s request by saying he agreed with the appointments of Sulaiman and Singam, after having discussed with the chief judges of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak.

Mohamed Dzaiddin also thanked Mahathir for the latter’s consent on the appointments of Heliliah, Ramly and Ahmad but once again put forward the names of Chew and Zainudin.

“Since we have 12 vacancies of High Court judges, I humbly and respectfully appeal to Dato Seri (Mahathir) to reconsider my recommendation on Dec 5, 2001 for Chew and Zainudin to be appointed as High Court judges.

“The two candidates are lawyers. They possessed high qualification, full experience as advocate and solicitor and qualified to be appointed as High Court judges,” Mohamed Dzaiddin said. (See letter here)

The ex-CJ explained to Mahathir that Zainudin’s legal experience included the latter’s 10 years of service at the legal and judicial services.

As for Chew, Mohamed Dzaiddin said the former has practised for 30 years and was very learned in laws.

“I am confident that their appointments will be an asset to the judiciary,” Mohamed Dzaiddin said in the two-page letter, adding that he attached the details of the duo’s biography to the letter.

He ended by saying that he wished Mahathir’s family always in healthy condition with the blessing from God.

Appeal rejected

Nevertheless, in a terse three-paragraph letter given to Mohamed Dzaiddin in the same month, Mahathir again turned down the recommendation of the duo.

“The recommendation to appoint Chew and Zainudin as High Court judges was not agreed,” the ex-premier stated briefly in the letter without any further explanation. (See letter here)

The list of candidates forwarded by Mohamed Dzaiddin to Mahathir is important as Lingam was caught talking about it to former Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim - then chief judge of Malaya - in his telephone conversation, said to be recorded in December 2001.

Mohamed Dzaiddin retired in 2003 and was replaced by Ahmad Fairuz, who himself retired last December.

In the grainy 14-minute video, Lingam told Ahmad Fairuz that Zainudin’s name was dropped because he “condemned” Ahmad Fairuz’s promotion to chief judge of Malaya and former attorney-general Mohtar Abdullah’s appointment to the Federal Court.

According to the video, Lingam said: "There is a letter sent to … ah … CJ - I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin - that Datuk Heliliah, …er Datuk Ramli and Datuk Maarop be made judges, and he (Mahathir) rejected that Dr Andrew Chew and apa itu Zainudin Ismail lah because Zainuddin Ismail who condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mohtar’s appointment."

As mentioned by Lingam in the video, the two lawyers were indeed dropped when the appointments to the High Court were officially announced two months later.

The video also showed Lingam expressing concern that the outgoing chief justice Mohamed Dzaiddin was moving his ‘men’ into top judiciary posts.

The conversation revolved around the urgent need to get Ahmad Fairuz, then chief judge of Malaya - the judiciary’s No 3 - appointed as Court of Appeal president (No 2) and then chief justice (No 1).

Lingam's conversation also included references to tycoon Vincent Tan, a close crony of Mahathir, and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a key minister in the PM’s Department.

They were to lobby Mahathir on the appointment of judges.

‘I don’t have to tell’

Mahathir who testified before the inquiry today however has said he was not influenced by any party in deciding judicial appointments.

He told the commission that while he obtained opinions from other people on judicial appointments - whether solicited or unsolicited - he made the final decision.

Despite a series of questions if he was influenced by anyone in the appointment of judges, Mahathir brashly said that the final decision was his alone.

“I don’t have to tell anyone as to why I made those decisions,” he said.

“I listen to unofficial views during conversations or at social gatherings. I consider the views but the final decision is mine,” he said.

He added that the reasons for his decision are “something I don't tell people”.

“It is my prerogative. I don't have to explain why,” he said.