Two infamous High Court judges who were involved in the controversial trials of jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim will be among the four judges to be promoted to the Court of Appeal.

Meanwhile, appellate court justice Pajan Singh Gill, who heard and dismissed Anwar's appeal against his sodomy charges, will be elevated to the Federal Court.

Sources close to the judiciary revealed that justices Arifin Jaka ( photo ) and S Augustine Paul are expected to take their oath at the Istana Negara tomorrow. There will be an official ceremony at the Federal Court later in the day.

The other two judges to be elevated to the Court of Appeal are justices Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku Mahmud and Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman.

Malaysiakini

is also informed that along with justice Pajan, the other vacancies in the Federal Court - the country's highest court - will be filled by Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Mohd Noor Ahmad and Rahmah Hussain.

The four are also expected to be sworn in on Thursday.

Abrasive conduct

Augustine ( left ) heard Anwar's first trial in 1998 - who was charged with abuse of power and tempering with police investigations - and after year-long hearing, convicted and sentenced the ex-politician to six years' imprisonment.

The judge's abrasive conduct of the trial attracted worldwide criticism and was criticised by the Federal Court when it heard an appeal for a contempt of court proceedings against one of Anwar's lawyers, Zainur Zakaria.

Augustine had slapped the contempt charge against Zainur during Anwar's trial for failing to make an apology and sentenced him to three months' jail, but this was later overturned by the Federal Court.

Another controversial High Court judge, Arifin, heard Anwar's sodomy charge in 1999 and also found him guilty. Anwar was subsequently sentenced to a nine-year jail sentence.

In a contentious decision, Arifin ordered the sentence to take effect after the end of Anwar's first sentence, requiring the former prime minister-in-waiting to serve a total of 15 years.

Justice Pajan was one of the three Court of Appeal judges who heard Anwar's sodomy appeal and rejected the appeal last April.

For Pajan, his move to the Federal Court was considered swift as he was promoted to the appellate court less than a year ago.

The elevations of the three judges are expected to cause furore among the legal fraternity as many of them are considered junior judges.

The five most senior and veteran judges at the Court of Appeal judges - who were passed over for promotion - are Gopal Sri Ram, Mokhtar Sidin, Denis Ong Jiew Fook, Abdul Hamid Mohamad and Abdul Kadir Sulaiman.

Also overlooked for promotion are the five most experienced High Court judges - Faiza Tamby Chik, James Foong, Ian Chin Hon Chong, Azmel Maamor and Vincent Ng Kim Khoay.

From the list, appellate court justice Abdul Hamid is the only senior judge to be elevated.

Perception of favouritism

According to the official website of the Malaysian judiciary, Arifin is the eighth most senior High Court judge while Paul is the 29 th among the total of 41 High Court judges.

Paul was elevated to the High Court only a few years ago and was immediately asked to hear the Anwar's trial.

Justices Tengku Baharudin and Nik Hashim are 'ranked' at 15 th and 26 th respectively.

As to the appointments of the Federal Court judges, out of a total of 14 Court of Appeal judges, Pajan and Rahmah stand at No 9 and 12, respectively.

Recently, the Bar Council chairperson Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari ( left ) issued a statement calling for greater transparency on judicial appointments.

He had said the council would call for an extraordinary general meeting in the event that senior judges are bypassed, and stressed the importance of a "merit-based selection process" with a sufficient degree of transparency and objectivity in full consultation with stakeholders.

Kuthubul also pointed out the importance of freeing the process of judicial promotions from any perception of favouritism or being seen as a 'reward' to a select few. It was the strongest such statement by the 10,000-strong legal body to date.

His stand was supported senior lawyer Karpal Singh who reminded the judiciary that promotions of judges should be based on seniority .

In a statement later today, DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said the Bar Council's stand was long overdue.

"It will be most tragic if the 22-year premiership of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should end with a third judicial crisis of confidence under his administration, causing irreparable damage to one of the five Rukunegara principles by rocking the very foundations of the fragile rule of law in Malaysia," he added.