There should be a judicial review of all court cases involving the judges whose appointments and promotions are now suspect following the 'Lingam tape' scandal, said reform movement Aliran.

In a press statement today, Aliran president P Ramakrishnan also called for the purging of judges found undeserving of their appointments or promotions.

Such drastic measures, he said, are necessary because of the judiciary's slide from its previously esteemed international standing to the present rot in which it languishes.

"It has sunk so low that it has reached rock bottom and it has lost the respect of well-meaning Malaysians who are appalled at the state of the judiciary," he added.

Ramakrishnan was the latest in a growing chorus of calls for government action after the scandal came to light.

The video clip was exposed by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday. It shows senior lawyer VK Lingam in a telephone conversation with purportedly the current Chief Justice, Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

The conversation surrounded fixing the appointments of 'friendly' senior judges.

The video clip, said to have been filmed in 2002, also revealed a discussion on Ahamd Fairuz's potential appointment as the chief justice of Malaya and chief justice, which took place in 2003.

In addition to the video clip, Anwar also revealed a short audio recording in which his name was brought up by Lingam.

Commission of inquiry

Describing the rot in the judiciary as a matter of urgent priority, Ramakrishnan said the purge of the judges - whom he labelled as "co-plotters in this nefarious scheme" - was necessary to save the judiciary from "the clutches of the executive."

According to him, a long list of court cases and issues - some going back almost 20 years - is due for judicial review or re-investigations:

1. All judgments involving Anwar's court cases;

2. The sodomy conviction cases of Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja and Dr Munawar A Anees;

3. The sacking of Salleh Abas, Wan Suleiman and George Seah;

4. The elevation of the late Mohtar Abdullah to the Federal Court some three weeks after his retirement from his office as the attorney-general;

5. The Ayer Molek case;

6. The Metramac case;

7. All high profile cases in which these judges sat after leap-frogging over more senior and deserving judges still in service;

8. Justice Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Aidid's letter which condemned and implicated 12 judges by citing 112 serious allegations of corruption and malpractice;

9. Reporter Raphael Pura's allegation that Lingam had written parts of the judgments of a judge in his defamation case;

10. The case of certain judges holidaying overseas with Lingam.

Ramakrishnan also said if there is indeed a "devious plot" to promote certain judges, a commission of inquiry should be set up immediately.

For this to happen, he said the suspension of Ahmad Fairuz is also in order to allow the authorities to get "to the bottom of the truth without any interference or sabotage."

"The controversy that we are embroiled in is a serious one that has completely undermined people's confidence in our system of justice and tarnished the image of the judiciary irreparably.

"Any delay in addressing this issue will make a mockery of justice and turn Malaysia into a laughing-stock," he said.