(AFP) The High Court judge who disclosed that he had been pressured to drop a politically sensitive case said yesterday the order came from a top officer in the judiciary.

Justice Muhammad Kamil Awang, quoted by Bernama news agency, declined to name the person.

Asked by reporters if the person was a former top official of either the federal court, the court of appeal or the chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, he replied: "Yes ... you think who else can give a directive to a judge."

The disclosure has sparked a furore in Malaysia, where critics of the government say judicial independence has long been under threat.

Last Friday Muhammad Kamil granted petitions from two losing candidates in the 1999 Sabah state election and ordered a member of the nationally ruling coalition to vacate his seat in the assembly of the eastern state.

He ruled that the politician won the seat with the help of "phantom voters."

In his written judgement the judge also said he had been given a directive by phone that the petitions contesting the result should be struck off without a hearing.

Mohammad Kamil did not name the caller but said in his judgement he was determined "to truly act as a judge and not a 'yes man'."

He said the call came after he was assigned in 1999 to hear the petitions. Asked if the caller was his superior, the judge said: "Maybe".

He said that at the time only three superiors could direct him - the-then Chief Justice Eusoff Chin, Court of Appeal president Lamin Yunus and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Chong Siew Fai.

'Too sensitive'

Muhammad Kamil, who is due to retire on June 25 on reaching 65, said he reported the matter to Mohamed Dzaiddin immediately after Dzaiddin was appointed chief justice last December, succeeding Eusoff.

He said he would write to the chief justice in a few days, disclosing the caller's name.

Muhammad Kamil said he related the incident to other judges in Sabah and Sarawak and one or two told him that they had received similar instructions over the phone from the same person.

Asked if the caller was still in government service, he said: "I can't answer that question, it's too sensitive."

But Muhammad Kamil said of his judgment: "I hope in my own small way, it will restore public confidence in the judiciary."

Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special rapporteur on judicial independence, said he had heard of similar directives to judges in other cases.

But this was the first time in recent years that such interference had been exposed, Cumaraswamy said in a statement.