How can the CJ Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim remain silent when three judges of such high position have taken so long to decide over such a simple application? As Anwar has so rightly pointed out in a press statement: "This is an issue that is so basic that even a magistrate can dispense expeditiously as a matter of course."

How can the CJ keep mum when the presiding judge Pajan Singh Gill has very evidently failed to keep his word that a verdict on the bail application would be given " as soon as possible "?

How can the CJ accept in silence the fact that the delay by the Court of Appeal is a breach of a directive that judgments be issued (at the most) six weeks after the arguments have concluded?

What has happened to the "efficient judicial system" which the CJ had initially promised? Why must the Court of Appeal delay till Dec 8 to allow Anwar's lawyers to submit fresh arguments to his bail application?

The CJ is very familiar with the application. He had to intervene when Anwar's lawyers met him in chambers after Gill and his colleagues refused to reconvene to hear Anwar and Sukma's oral bail application, in spite of them having promised to do so earlier.

Surely he would have heard of how for the first time in a Malaysian court the three judges of the Court of Appeal were booed as they left the crowded courtroom.

The prisoner of Sungai Buloh has written two letters (which have been made public) to the Chief Justice personally seeking justice, but till this day the CJ chooses to be cloistered in his comfortable chambers in silence, whilst the prisoner faces the danger of becoming disabled.

His silence and the inferred consent to the judicial circus surrounding Anwar Ibrahim's application for bail is definitely not in consonance with his maiden message. It in fact reduces his initial resolve to mere judicial chicanery.

Many members of the public share the sentiments of Anwar Ibrahim: "It is so tragic that judges of the Superior Court lack the moral courage to honour their oath of office, uphold the rule of law and to stand up for what's rightI must express my abhorrence in the manner in which my application for bail is treated by the Court of Appeal."

Justice delayed is justice denied. Very regrettably, and according to public perception, when it comes to Anwar Ibrahim, the courts' tendency have been to delay and deny him freedom and to keep him in jail as long as possible.

The Chief Justice should not allow such a denial of justice to continue. He should ensure that the question of bail be settled without further delay.

Come this Hari Raya and it would be four long months (when it should have taken minutes) since Justices Gill, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Yusoff promised to give Anwar Ibrahim a decision on his bail application - and have to date failed to do so.

The Chief Justice must know that in serving the cause of justice there is no place for those who play safe by keeping quiet. The court of public opinion views his continued silence as one of "quiet subservience".

May Anwar Ibrahim see justice this Hari Raya and may the Chief Justice act to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done.