The Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted leave to attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali to begin proceedings to cite Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for contempt of court.

Apandi is seeking to commit Lim to jail over the latter’s purported comments on the corruption and abuse of power charges against him.

The attorney-general was represented by senior federal counsel Amarjit Singh, who said the documents for the proceedings will be filed in two weeks.

“The attorney-general has been granted leave by the high court here to commit Lim on allegations that he had scandalised the court and interfered with the administration of justice concerning certain press statements that he made after he was charged,” he said.

The ex-parte decision was made in chambers by Justice Hanipah Farikullah.

According to the originating summons for the case that was filed on Aug 18, Lim had made statements during a press conference after launching the ‘Dr Wu Lian Teh Symposium’ by the Penang Institute in July at Jalan Brown, Georgetown.

He purportedly said that the charges against him are a conspiracy that would put him in jail, and the statements taken as a whole gave a clear meaning that “the court is also involved in the alleged conspiracy" and will jail Lim on "trumped up corruption charges".

The document states that Apandi is seeking to commit Lim to jail for contempt of court for issuing statements through social and/or print media that he knows or should have known would threaten the administration of justice, undermine public confidence in the judiciary, and insult the dignity and integrity of Malaysian courts.

He is seeking for Lim to pay the costs incurred by the committal proceedings, and any other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

“(This is) to ensure that any action that belittles the court, its judges, and the administration of justice should not be let off easily.

“The public’s trust in the judicial system in Malaysia should be defended, especially when it comes to cases that are still pending in court,” the document read.

It added that the attorney-general has to duty to protect public interest and to ensure that the judiciary and the administration of justice in Malaysia is protected and not ridiculed, insulted, or belittled easily, to the point where there is doubt on whether cases are being adjudicated with fairness and justice.

Lim was faced with two corruption charges on June 30.

One was for rezoning a plot of land in Balik Pulau from agriculture to residential purpose to benefit the owner of the plot - Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd.

He was also charged with purchasing a bungalow on Jalan Pinhorn for RM2.8 million, allegedly below market value, from businesswoman Phang Li Koon.

He and DAP had claimed that this was a political conspiracy against him, despite Apandi’s warning against making statements about this graft case.