Dzaiddin: I dislike Eusoff

Former chief justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah today said that while he did not hate his predecessor Eusoff Chin, he nevertheless disliked him.

He told the commission of inquiry into the VK Lingam video that the reason for this was because Eusoff had lied about Dzaiddin’s Tan Sri title conferment.

He also said that it took a long time for him to get that award.

Part of senior lawyer Lingam’s conversation in the clip implied that Eusoff was not in good terms with Dzaiddin who succeeded Eusoff as chief justice in 2000, and stayed at the helm until his retirement in 2003.

Dzaiddin was questioned about this by deputy public prosecutor Nordin Hassan.

Nordin: In the transcript: "He is Eusoff Chin’s man, Eusoff Chin retired. But Dzaiddin hates Eusoff Chin, you understand?"

I’m sorry, Tun but I must ask you. Do you hate Tun Eusoff Chin?

Dzaiddin: No. I don’t hate him. But I dislike him, that’s all. (Laughter erupted in the room)

Commission chairperson Haidar Mohamed Noor: Any reason for disliking?

Dzaiddin: He keeps telling not the truth especially on the conferment of Tan Sri-ship. I became a Federal Court judge in 1993 and only in 2000 I was made Tan Sri. Those years he kept telling me, he said...

Haidar: (interrupting) Never mind. Alright, alright.

Dzaiddin: (continuing) ... he was not truthful to me, that's all.

Yesterday, Eusoff took the stand and denied that he and Dzaiddin were not in good terms.

Saying that Dzaiddin was cordial with him, he also denied there were "different camps" in the judiciary during his (Eusoff) term as chief justice.

Responding to this, Dzaiddin today said: “I think we did our own work. We didn’t bother whether there was team A or team B”.

Dzaiddin also rejected claims of factionalism in the judiciary during his tenure, adding that he was in control of the judiciary.

He however admitted being “marginalised” in the judiciary by Eusoff in the series of promotions.

The recommendation of Tan Sri titles were also the subject of scrutiny at the inquiry’s 11^th day of proceedings.

Earlier, former chief justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim testified that he did not know who recommended him for the Tan Sri title in response to a question by Bar Council lawyer Yeo Yang Poh.

"I do not know. I was only notified that I had been conferred a Tan Sri-ship," said Ahmad Fairuz, who succeeded Dzaiddin as chief justice.

Ahmad Fairuz also denied the suggestion by Dzaiddin’s co-counsel Khoo Guan Huat that the former had informed Dzaiddin in 2002 that his Tan Sri-ship was recommended by Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

However, when questioned by his co-counsel Wong Chong Wah, Dzaiddin’s testimony contradicted that of Ahmad Fairuz.

Wong: Did you recommend to the government a Tan Sri title for Ahmad Fairuz?

Dzaiddin: No, I did not.

Wong: Did you know who recommended at that time?

Dzaiddin: I only know on the eve of the Agong’s birthday when he (Ahmad Fairuz) came to see me and apologise to me that because his Tan Sri-ship was not recommended by me.

He did tell me categorically that it was done by Tengku Adnan. I was surprised because it was improper. All recommendations must be by head of department, in this case the chief justice ... I did not sign any forms.

When questioned Nordin, Dzaiddin denied knowledge of the references made to him in the secretly-filmed video clip.

(Transcript) Being the old man, he is 76 years old, he gets whispers everywhere, and then you don’t whisper, he get taken away by the other side. But, now the PM is very alert because every time he gets letters from Tan Sri Dzaiddin, he calls Tengku Adnan, he says discuss with Vincent, come and discuss.

And then Dzaiddin will go and tell them you went and saw PM and make a big issue out of it. Oh ya, I think so, I think so.

Nordin: Did you understand that?

Dzaiddin: That’s not true. I never went to see the prime minister to make any big issue. I was trying to be very professional.

(Transcript) Eusoff Chin and I are extremely close. Because you know... Yeah. Eusoff Chin in power, I can straight and get in Pom! Pom! Pom! Pom! But now Dzaiddin is there. So Dzaiddin is attacking our cases.That means what? James Kumar is aligned to Dzaiddin. But Dzaiddin is retiring in 15th of September. He is finished.

Nordin: Do you know James Kumar?

Dzaiddin: No.

Nordin: What about James Foong?

Dzaiddin: He's a judge.

Nordin: Can you explain what you understand from "Dzaiddin is attacking our cases".

Dzaiddin: I cannot fathom ... I never attack cases ... For your information, as chief justice, I fix cases, I fix quorums but I never sat on any of his (Lingam) quorum.

How did it leak out?

When asked how Lingam could have known about his recommendations for High Court positions, Dzaiddin expressed surprise.

"I was very surprised (at) how it leaked out," he said.

Dzaiddin had proposed five names for the prime minister’s consideration: Heliliah Mohd Yusuf, Ramli Ali, Ahmad Maarop, Andrew Chew and Zainuddin Ismail.

The prime minister had rejected the nomination of Chew and Zainuddin.

Dzaiddin said that he had discussed the nominations with Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Chong Siew Fai and Ahmad Fairuz.

Dzaiddin was also questioned on his recommendations for the chief judge of Malaya position, which he said was made on the criteria of a judge’s seniority.

"My policy was that I recommend judges that are senior, compatible, have the capacity and most importantly a judge of integrity.

"At that point in time, he (Abdul Malek Ahmad) was most senior Federal Court judge so it is logical that I recommend him to the prime minister as chief judge of Malaya," Dzaiddin added.

Dzaiddin recalled that the prime minister did not agree with Abdul Malek’s nomination and suggested Mohtar Abdullah as chief judge of Malaya. The prime minister’s second choice was Ahmad Fairuz.

He also testified that he had nominated Ahmad Fairuz as the Court of Appeals president to replace Wan Adnan Wan Ismail who was on medical leave.

Dzaiddin added that he had again nominated Abdul Malek to fill the position of chief judge of Malaya that had become vacant upon Ahmad Fairuz’s promotion.

According to Dzaiddin, he had named Siti Norma Yaakob as his second choice if the prime minister again disagreed with Abdul Malek’s nomination.

On another matter, Dzaiddin’s counsel also informed the commission that he was willing to answer any questions on the latest video clip which was released by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.

In the clip, Lingam claimed to have given “expensive gift” to Dzaiddin and had taken the chief justice for three dinners.

Commission head Haidar however said the commission has not decided whether to examine the latest clip

Phone records

Meanwhile Anti-Corruption Agency investigating officer Chuah Lay Choo was recalled to the witness stand today to submit records of telephone conversations between Lingam and Ahmad Fairuz on Dec 20, 2001, the day the video clip was recorded.

She informed the commission that according to the phone records available from telecommunication companies, based on available telephone numbers of the two, there were no records of any phone calls made between them.

“Based on the records, on that day, there was one call made by Lingam but that was to Singapore.

“And he made another call at about 4pm and lasted some 34 minutes,” she said.

Both the calls were not made to Ahmad Fairuz’s phones, she added.

She said that her investigations were made based on five landline and mobile phone numbers belonging to Ahmad Fairuz and four of Lingam’s.