The Attorney-General's Chambers former head of prosecution Stanley Isaacs said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should revoke the contentious appointments of Chief Justice Mohd Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin.

He said this instead of the two top judges being permitted to resign.

Isaacs said this was because their appointments as additional judges and the extension of their respective tenures were currently being contested before the Federal Court.

"While this (the two top judges' resignation) is good news, the inference of a resignation is that their appointments were constitutionally correct and legal but that they chose to resign due to pressure to do so.

"Consequently, their appointments can become a wrong precedent. This should not be so when their appointments were challenged as being unconstitutional void ab initio (to be treated as invalid from the beginning)," he said in a statement.

Isaacs was referring to the case brought on by the Malaysian Bar Council questioning the constitutionality of the appointments of Justices Raus and Zulkefli as additional judges and the extension of their tenure beyond mandatory retirement.

He said: "My respectful view is that either the king revokes their appointment on the advice of the prime minister or else let the Federal Court make its decision on the challenge that was made by the Bar Council."

Meanwhile, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh urged the nation's highest court to expedite its ruling on the suit brought by the Bar Council.

"I am of the view that the said Federal Court decision is not rendered academic as a result of the said resignations as it is necessary for a judicial pronouncement to be made as to the legality of such appointments in order to avoid a repetition of same in the future.

"The Federal Court must fix a date for decision of the said matter as soon as possible in light of the resignations," he said in a statement.

Ramkarpal (above) further called out the lengthy period remaining for the two judges to serve out their term.

He stated that it was "not proper" for them to delay their resignations until July 31 because their appointments were contentious to begin with.

"(Moreover), there is absolutely no reason for such resignations to be delayed as there are other judges who are perfectly capable of immediately being appointed chief justice and Court of Appeal president respectively," he said.

'Wrong' for PM for defend CEP

Last December, the Bar Council had sought several declarations from the Federal Court to invalidate Raus' and Zulkefli's extension of service, initiated under the Najib Abdul Razak administration.

The chief argument was that their reappointments were in violation of Article 122(1A) of the Federal Constitution which stipulates that a judge must retire at the age of 66 years and six months.

Following BN's ouster from Putrajaya, there have been repeated calls for Raus and Zulkefli to step down, including by Putrajaya's advisory body known as the Council of Eminent Persons.

Raus and Zulkefli then tendered their resignations to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong last Thursday but these will only take effect on July 31 on grounds that the duo still had matters to attend to.

On another matter, Ramkarpal argued that it was wrong for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to defend the council for demanding for Raus 'and Zulkefli's resignation.

"The Council of Eminent Persons is appointed by the government and its actions are ostensibly the actions of the government.

"When it summons judges and demands their resignations, it will be seen as the government demanding their resignations which is in complete disregard of the principle of separation of powers.

"It is a basic hallmark of any democracy that the executive does not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary," Ramkarpal added.

Mahathir had also previously filed two separate applications to challenge the two appointments in August and September last year.

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