updated version Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examinations director Khalid Yusoff was today charged in the Sessions Court with mark tampering and cheating the Legal Profession Qualifying Board in connection with the results of the July 2001 CLP exams.

On the first count, Khalid is charged under Section 468 of the Penal Code with forging the master list of the July 2001 CLP results.

He is also charged under Section 417 of the Penal Code with cheating the board into believing that the forged master list was a genuine list given by the examiners.

He is alleged to have committed the offences at the CLP office at Menara Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur between September and Sept 13, 2001.

Khalid claimed trial and the case is fixed for hearing between October 22 and 25. He was allowed to post bail at RM20,000 and had his international passport impounded by the court as part of the bail condition.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum seven-year jail term for the first charge and a maximum five-year jail term for the second charge, plus fine.

Suspended indefinitely

Khalid was arrested by the police on Dec 6 in connection with the alleged leak of CLP exam papers and alleged tampering of marks. The arrest came a day after Khalid had been suspended indefinitely by the board.

On Nov 26, the board found Khalid responsible for irregularities between the marks awarded by examiners on the answer scripts and the master result list which Khalid compiled and tabled for the board's approval. The board subsequently lodged a police report against him.

This afternoon, the sombre-looking Khalid was made to wait for more than an hour before he was charged at 3.20pm before sessions judge Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab. He had to be escorted to two different courts twice due to technical hitches during the registration of the charges.

At the hearing today, the court was also informed by deputy public prosecutor Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin that the prosecution plans to call at least 10 witnesses to testify during the prosecution's case.

The court also allowed a request by leading counsel Ananth Namasivayam for Khalid to be given the liberty to make applications for the release of his passport when the need arises as Khalid is still the secretary-general of the Asean Law Association.

Leaked by 'insiders'

The CLP exam issue cropped up last year when students complained that the exam papers had been leaked out by "insiders".

In November last year, 921 CLP students were traumatised after the board announced that it had detected discrepancies in the candidates' marks in the main CLP exam in July and supplementary Evidence paper.

The board then wanted students to resit the whole exam but retracted its decision after an outcry, not only from the students but also the Bar Council and the legal fraternity. It then decided to make a reassessment.

After the reassessment, the board announced on Nov 27 last year that the number of passing candidates was reduced from 232 to119. Also reduced was the number of candidates who obtained conditional pass from 228 to 170.

Meanwhile, board secretary Abdul Wahab Said Ahmad lodged a report and the Federal CID police department formed a special team to probe the matter. The police team was headed by Assistant Commissioner Hadi Ho Abdullah.

Seven people were arrested to facilitate police investigation but to date, only Khalid was charged.