The Anti-Corruption Agency's (ACA) top brass today remained tightlipped on the status of senior lawyer V K Lingam.

Both director-general Ahmad Said Hamdan and his deputy, Abu Kassim Mohamed, refused to comment on whether Lingam had been quizzed by the agency.

The duo were met as they were leaving the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) office after meeting with the panel tasked with verifying the authenticity of the 'Lingam video'.

The spotlight fell on Lingam following the exposure of a video clip some two weeks ago by opposition party PKR. The clip showed the senior lawyer having a telephone conversation about the appointment of 'friendly' judges.

He was purportedly talking to Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim in the clip, said to be recorded in 2002 when the latter was Chief Judge of Malaya.

Quizzed on whether Lingam had been interviewed in the wake of an ACA report filed by PKR, Abu Kassim ( left ), who was the first to emerge from the meeting room, smiled and shook his head.

"No comment, no comment ...," he said, adding, "I will give a statement later." However, he did not specify when exactly this statement would be issued.

D-G keeps mum too

After Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail and Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan left the room, the ACA director-general appeared and was mobbed by members of the media.

Ahmad Said also chose to keep mum on whether Lingam had been questioned. The director-general just smiled and walked past the reporters.

Last week, the New Straits Times quoted an ACA source as saying that Lingam had vowed to cooperate with the agency.

To date, the agency has quizzed PKR vice president S Sivarasa and Sim Tze Tzin, an aide of the party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar himself will be questioned on Friday.

Lingam, who was said to be overseas when the video surfaced, has yet to comment on the matter.

He is believed have returned to the country this week but numerous attempts by Malaysiakini to contact him yesterday proved futile.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape