Bar Council lawyer Christopher Leong today tried to debunk the theory that DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock was squatting on the window sill before jumping to his death after being interrogated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission two years ago.

NONE Picking up a shoe belonging to Teoh before the Royal Commission of Inquiry this morning, Leong referred to the scratch marks, which were previously provided as evidence of Teoh squatting on the window sill, by University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) pathologist Dr Prashant Naresh Sambekar.

Cross-examining Prashant, Leong pointed out to the commission that it was not possible for Teoh to be squatting on a window sill measuring 3mm to 5mm thick and get those sort of scratch marks on the soles of his shoes.

NONE "You've given this hypothesis that the deceased may have squatted on the edge of the window. But for someone to get on the edge, he'd have to climb and hold onto something.

"And when the person gets up to the ledge, he would have to balance and perch towards the middle to front of the foot for control," said Leong.

Prashant had told the earlier coroner's inquest into Teoh's death that the scratch marks on the soles of the shoes, close to the heel, were possible evidence of Teoh squatting on the window sill on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam, where the MACC Selangor office is located.

'Small pieces of cloth stuck to the sole'

Leong also raised another possibility for the scratch marks.

There is one spot on each shoe, which Prashant marked as 'scratches'. But Leong argued that they were just small pieces of cloth stuck to the sole.

Implying that they may not even be scratch marks in the first place, the senior lawyer pointed to a mysterious cloth-like material stuck to the larger part of the sole of the right shoe.

“The scratch marks at the bottom of the shoe are actually fluff,” Leong told the inquiry panel in a courtroom at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex on Jalan Duta, adding that the scratches were also pieces of cloth stuck to the indentation of the logo of the shoes.

NONE The MACC’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, asked Prashant ( left ) if the ‘scratches’ were only in the indentation or whether they were outside as well, to which the doctor said there were a little outside.

“So some of the scratches are not just within the logo?” asked Shafee.

“Yes, but just a little bit,” said Prashant.

The government pathologists, including Prashant and Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, had maintained during the coroner’s inquest that based on the lack of struggle marks on his body, Teoh had committed suicide.

Teoh, political aide to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth floor landing of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, after giving a statement as a witness in investigations into alleged misuse of state government funds.

After an 18-month-long inquest, the coroner delivered an open verdict, saying the death was neither suicide nor homicide, prompting Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to set up the royal commission.

The inquiry continues in the afternoon.

Doubts raised on 'post-mortem stain'