Senior lawyer VK Lingam's bid to overturn the Advocates and Solicitors disciplinary board decision to strike his name off the rolls for misconduct in the alleged Lingam-gate video tape scandal, would be heard on Oct 17 at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.

The merits of his application are scheduled to be heard before Justice Hanipah Farikullah. The case management was done on May 10.

Lingam filed an originating motion against the Malaysia Bar Council last Dec 15 to challenge the decision made by the disciplinary board on Nov 6, last year.

The lawyer, through his sister Kanahalashmi, in her supporting affidavit, claimed the disciplinary committee report cannot be sustained in law and facts and hence it cannot be affirmed by the board.

He claimed the committee had not addressed the standard of proof to be applied on the charge of misconduct, that is, to prove beyond reasonable doubt, and the committee failed to apply this standard of proof when arriving at its finding.

He further alleged that the committee had made no finding on the charge of misconduct against him over whether he had interfered or influenced judicial appointments.

Hence, Lingam alleged the board had misdirected and committed fundamental error in affirming and finding liability on him to have conspired with others to interfere or influence judicial appointments.

The senior lawyer claimed that the liability placed on him was based on the video clip contained in the compact disc but the maker of the CD was not called to give evidence.

Lingam also claimed there is a real danger of bias as one of the disciplinary committee panel members, who heard his case, had been photographed with Loh Mui Fah (who is Loh Gwo Burne), the person who allegedly recorded the video clip.

He alleged the important issue of bias was summarily dismissed by the disciplinary board without seeking explanation from the panel members and Mui Fah.

It was reported on Nov 20 that Lingam had been struck off the rolls, meaning that he is barred from practising law following the charge of misconduct.

Challenging the RCI findings

He was implicated in a judge-fixing scandal when a video clip of him apparently negotiating the appointment of top judges was made public in 2007.

A royal commission of inquiry (RCI) was set up in 2008 to investigate the matter.

The five-member commission recommended that action be taken against key personalities involved in the scandal – Lingam, former chief justices Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Eusoff Chin, Umno leader Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and business tycoon Vincent Tan.

In its 191-page report, the commission recommended that the six be investigated under a slew of laws – Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act, Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Legal Profession Act.

Lingam and the others tried to challenge the findings but on Dec 12, 2008, then Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Abdul Kadir Musa rejected the applications of Lingam, Eusoff, Ahmad Fairuz, tycoon Vincent Tan and BN and Tengku Adnan to challenge the commission’s findings.

The Court of Appeal then granted leave for Lingam, Ahmad Fairuz and Eusoff to challenge the RCI findings in the High Court.

However, in a landmark decision on Sept 13, 2011, the Federal Court ruled that findings of the RCI could not be challenged . This ended the legal challenge of Lingam and the two former chief justices.

Despite the Federal Court's decision, the authorities did not take any action against Lingam.

Lingam is said to be suffering from a hip bone fracture and a fracture in the right neck following a fall at his house on Sept 15, 2013. He underwent surgery at University Malaya Specialist Centre and is undergoing treatment in the United States.