Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has backed the Council of Eminent Persons' call for two judges to resign.

"If you can't talk to them and if you cannot suggest to them, then the whole eminent group should be disbanded," he told a press conference in Tokyo today.

Council chairperson Daim Zainuddin had allegedly asked chief justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin to resign, an action which drew criticism from some senior lawyers

In defending the council, Mahathir said it would be better for the judges to resign rather than being removed.

“They (the council) had indicated to the two judges that it is good if they were to resign, otherwise, of course, the government may have to take action to remove them, because we believe that the extension of their office as senior judges was not right.

“The Bar Council and other leading lawyers feel that such an extension is not justified. It has never been done before.

"We have given judges up to the age of 65 to serve as judge, but extending them means denying other judges from chances of promotion,” he said.

The appointments of Raus and Zulkelfi as additional judges last year had attracted a barrage of criticism, since both exceeded the mandatory retirement age of 66 years and six months.

Before becoming prime minister, Mahathir had filed two separate applications to challenge their appointments in August and September last year.

His challenge was later dismissed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.