There was a 70 minute stand-off when Pakatan Perak Assembly Speaker V Sivakumar and his Rights and Privileges Committee members were denied entry into the State Secretariat.

The six-member committee was to hold an inquiry into the conduct of BN-appointed state Speaker R Ganesan, who called police into the House to remove Sivakumar during the riotous May 7 assembly sitting.

NONE The committee also wanted to interview three witnesses - Pokok Assam's Yee Seu Kai who lodged the complaint against Ganesan, DAP state chairman Ngeh Koo Ham and constitutional law expert Tommy Thomas.

Sivakumar said he informed state secretary Abdul Rahman Hashim on Sunday via a phone call that he needed the Speaker's room, or any other room, to conduct the inquiry.

"He told me to put it in writing. I did, and faxed him the letter. This morning, I rang him up to confirm booking of the room but he did not respond to my call. I then sent a SMS asking him to prepare a room but he did not respond to it either."

Wall of police personnel

Sivakumar and his six-member committee then arrived at State Secretariat at 9.55am to face a wall of police personnel blocking their path into the state government building.

Ipoh CID chief Glenn Anthony told Sivakumar that he had instructions from the state secretary not to allow him and his committee into the building.

Ngeh, who was also present, demanded an official notification from the state secretary.

NONE Rahman's representative, principal assistant secretary Shamshuzaman Sulaiman, quickly retreated into the building and emerged with a hastily typed letter which said that Sivakumar was denied entry into the State Secretariat as no advance notice was given.

Sivakumar and Ngeh ( right ) hotly disputed this and said a written notice was faxed, and followed up with a personal phone to Rahman.

Shamshuzaman again retreated, and appeared 10 minutes later with another letter that he had signed, stating that Siva and company were prohibited from holding the meeting in the building as Rahman was not notified of the inquiry.

This again raised loud protests from Sivakumar and company and Shamshuzaman was forced to strike out the sentence that 'no notice was given'.

Inquiry now at 10am Thursday

Then at 11.10am Sivakumar announced to the media present that they were going to hold the inquiry at nearby hotel at 11.30am.

At a press conference later, Sivakumar said the committee interviewed the three witnesses and decided postponed the hearing of Ganesan's inquiry to 10am on Thursday at the State Secretariat.

When asked what they would do if Ganesan did not turn up for the inquiry and if they were again denied entry into the State Secretariat, Sivakumar said: "We will decide when the time comes."

NONE Sivakumar had filed an affidavit at the Ipoh High Court seeking a declaration as to who is the rightful speaker of the state.

The hearing is scheduled for Aug 6.

When asked whether the inquiry is a contempt of court, Thomas ( left ) replied: "There is a separation of powers between Parliament, Judiciary and the Executive. There is no question of contempt of court as each of the three powers is equal in rank."

Sivakumar added: "Since Ganesan is holding the post of speaker before the court's decision on my declaration, likewise I can as legal state speaker use my powers to hold inquiries."