High Court judge R.K Nathan directed Bar Council president Sulaiman Abdullah this afternoon to show cause why he should not be cited for contempt of court for alleging that the judge has personal interest in the case as his lawyer son is a member of the Bar.

"I'm directing you to show cause why I should not cite you for contempt in the face of the court," Nathan told Sulaiman before the court adjourned for lunch.

"You as CEO of Bar Council has admitted that you authorised your counsel to cite the authority, namely Localbail (UK) Ltd v Bayfield Properties Ltd and Another , which suggests that this judge stands to gain some interest out of your reference that his son is a member of the Bar. Unless you give me a satisfactory explanation, I will cite for contempt," he added.

Earlier, Nathan granted two short adjournments to allow the counsel for the Malaysian Bar to consult with the defendants.

The High Court is hearing an application by lawyer K. Raja Segaran to stop the Bar Council from proceeding with Friday's emergency general meeting.

Raja Segaran yesterday filed a suit seeking a declaration from the High Court that the Bar Council's meeting is illegal, and sought an interim injunction to prevent it from taking place.

The Bar Council is expected to convene an EGM of the Malaysian Bar on Friday with an intention to move a resolution calling for the suspension of Chief Justice Eusoff Chin pending a tribunal or royal commission of inquiry to investigate into allegations of impropriety against him.

Raja Segaran named the Bar Council and its 11 executive committee members, including president Sulaiman Abdullah, vice-president Roy Rajasingham and former presidents R.R. Chelvarajah, Dr Cyrus Das, Raja Aziz Addruse and Hendon Mohamed, as defendants in the lawsuit and is seeking damages, costs and other relief deemed necessary by the court.

When hearing began this morning, lawyers for the Bar Council, Arif Yusof, Ranjit Singh, Christopher Leong and Gopal Sreevasan, raised three preliminary objections.

The first objection, according to Arif, is that the case does not fall within the list of matters under the civil department of the High Court, but this was dismissed by Nathan.

"As long as I'm directed by the Chief Judge, as long as the matter is in my court, I must hear it," Nathan said. "Under the latest directive, no judge is allowed to transfer the matter to another judge. What you should do is to complain in writing to the Chief Judge of Malaya. It is for him to decide whether this matter should be heard before me or not."

The second objection raised by Arif is that the plaintiff, Raja Segaran, has regarded both the current and the previous suits as raising the same matter.

Last year, Raja Segaran successfully sought an injunction against the Bar Council to stop a similar meeting from taking place.

His injunction was granted by Justice Nathan on the grounds that the issues raised for discussion at the meeting, such as those pertaining to contempt proceedings against lawyers Zainur Zakaria and Tommy Thomas, were sub-judice as their cases were pending in court.

The EGM was subsequently called off, while the council's appeal against Nathan's decision is still pending.

According to Arif, the matter in the current case is different.

"We are taking another point and that the issues are not the same," said Arif.

The third point of objection raised is that judge Nathan "has a son who is a member of the Bar and since the first defendant is the Malaysian Bar, there would be some elements of personal interest".

After a heated exchange, Nathan called for a 10-minute break.

When the hearing resumed, Arif told the court that for the purpose of the present proceedings, he is representing the Malaysian Bar.

"Are you saying that all the other defendants you are representing are not with you in this allegation you have raised against this judge by citing his authority?" asked Nathan.

Arif: "I have not received instruction from the other defendants on this matter."

Nathan: "I'm surprised since you have not taken instruction from them in spite of this court adjourning the matter specifically on this. I have no choice but to ask each of the defendants present here to state their reasons."

He then called on Sulaiman to explain himself.

Sulaiman, who was present in court, said that as president of the Malaysian Bar, he is responsible for the instruction.

However, he said he did not authorise Arif to address the matter in his "second capacity as the independent defendant".

Nathan then directed Sulaiman to show cause for contempt of court.

Representing Raja Segaran is D.P Vijandran.

The hearing continues.