(AFP) Lawyers and an opposition leader called today for an official investigation into a judge's claim that he was pressured to drop a politically sensitive case.

The Bar Council - which represent 9,600 lawyers - urged police to investigate, saying obstruction of justice was a criminal offence.

High court judge Muhammad Kamil Awang on Friday ordered a member of the ruling coalition to vacate his seat in the Sabah state assembly, ruling that the electoral roll contained "phantom voters".

Muhammad Kamil also said he had earlier been given a directive over the phone that petitions from two defeated candidates contesting the result should be struck off without a hearing.

The judge did not say who gave the directive but said he was determined "to truly act as a judge and not a 'yes man'".

Deputy Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the court's judgement would be respected and he knew nothing about any telephone call.

It could have been a crank call, Sunday newspapers quoted him as saying.

Flippant comments

Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party, chided Abdullah for what he called flippant comments.

He said the deputy premier, who is also home minister, should order a top-level investigation to identify and prosecute the caller.

The ruling by Muhammad Kamil was the third in 10 days to have gone against the government.

Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special rapporteur on judicial independence, praised his judgment a "yet another triumph for the resurgence of judicial independence in Malaysia".

On May 30 a high court judge at Shah Alam near the capital ordered police to free two opposition activists after ruling that their detention under the Internal Security Act was unlawful.

Five other detained activists who earlier made similar "habeas corpus" applications to another court had their writs dismissed.

But on June 6 the federal court - dismissing objections from government lawyers - announced it would hear an appeal by lawyers for the five against the dismissal of the writs.

When he took office as chief justice in December, Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah promised to work to restore public confidence in the courts.