Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz today said that lawyer VK Lingam's former secretary Jayanthi LG Naidu was not the key witness which the MACC was looking for to conclude the probe against the lawyer.

"It is not her. They are looking for someone else," he said without revealing the identity of the mystery witness.

In a separate statement, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission confirmed that Jayanthi was not the witness which it was looking for.

The commission said that the decision to classify the matter as ‘no further action' was made only after Jayanthi's statement had been recorded.

Nazri had previously said that the MACC had 'closed' the case as it could not locate a key witness in the probe against Lingam.

Following that, opposition MPs yesterday brought Jayanthi to a press conference in Parliament to state that she was available to help the MACC if she was the key witness.

NONE Jayanthi also claimed that she had been available to assist the MACC in their investigations at all times.

"The ACA (now MACC) have at all times been able to contact me earlier for my statement.

"After the announcement (written reply) by Nazri on Oct 23 (that no action would be taken), I called and asked the MACC who the key witness was that they were looking for.

"They were unable to answer me," she told reporters at Parliament.

Jayanthi was Lingam's former secretary at the time of the royal commission's probe into Lingam's alleged involvement in brokering the appointment of judges.

She was called in as a witness by the commission then to testify about a holiday to New Zealand which Lingam and former chief justice Eusoff Chin had taken together.

No limitation period

Nazri meanwhile stressed that Jayanthi was not an important witness for the MACC.

"We are talking about our witness, not whom they (PKR) think is our witness and certainly that person (Jayanthi) they mention is not the one we are looking out for.

"It is not whether she is important to us or not... that entirely depends on us. She may be very important to R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) or she may be important to others but to us she is not the important witness," he added.

He explained that if the prosecutors were to take the matter up to the court and that particular witness was not available, they cannot then proceed with the matter.

"She is not the one... I think if PKR wants to prosecute, let them prosecute (but) they can't. We are doing the prosecution so we know who is important and who is not," he said.

"We have investigated what she has informed us (and) we have also weighed it against other evidences... but we need this other person," he added.

"Corruption is an offence which has no period or limitation. If in ten years time we get this person, the case can be reopened. The term is no further action until (further evidence is adduced)," said Nazri.

Who is the witness?

gobind suspended from parliament 160309 nazri Although Nazri refused to reveal the identity of the said witness, he told reporters that the witness was relevant in the investigations into Lingam's and Chin's family holiday.

"I think (that witness) is specifically related to the case of Eusoff Chin taking the holiday tour," he said.

However Kelana Jaya's PKR MP Loh Gwo Burne revealed that he was informed by Nazri that a Chinese male travel agent was the 'key witness' who was being sought after.

However, the minister refused to acknowledge this fact when pressed by reporters, although he did not deny it.

"Let's say in future this witness appears in court and (the circumstances are that) we need to protect him," he explained.