DAP's Jelutong MP RSN Rayer (above) said the issue of Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng having to apologise for claiming that GST refunds were "robbed" did not arise.

He said this in response to lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla who yesterday suggested that Lim should have the nobility to apologise if he had made a mistake.

"I wish to state that the question of the finance minister apologising for the use of the word 'perompak' (robber) in Parliament does not arise...

"Furthermore, I would like to ask Haniff if Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also his client, should also retract and apologise for the use of the word 'perompak' (robber), 'pencuri' (thief) and 'penyangak' (crook) in Parliament on numerous occasions," he said in a statement.

Rayer insisted that the word "robbed" was suitable, stating that "the GST refunds were in fact delayed because the previous government did not have sufficient funds to do the refunds."

The Public Accounts Committee had concluded that the GST revenue had not gone missing, but noted that it had been deposited into the consolidated revenue account, instead of the GST Trust Fund as required by law.

The previous government subsequently expended the funds for operational and development expenditure.

Subsequently, it had trouble paying back the GST refunds, and the new government had to seek Petronas' help for the refund.

Yesterday, Haniff (above) had acknowledged what the previous government did was wrong, but said procedural irregularity did not amount to outright robbery.

"If there was an error, to me, Lim... should in light of New Malaysia, apologise to Parliament for using very, very strong word implying criminality, when there was none on the GST issue," he had said.

Attorney-general Tommy Thomas, in his correspondence with the PAC, had said the channelling of the GST revenue directly into the consolidated revenue account was a breach of the law.

However, Thomas's statement to the PAC did not address the subject of criminal liability, but said it must be "further considered".

Rayer believed that the findings were tantamount to a criminal breach of trust.

"The BN government did, in fact, rob Malaysians of their timely GST refunds, and the finance minister was merely stating the truth in Parliament.

"So why should the finance minister apologise in the first place?" said Rayer, who is also a lawyer.

In his own defence, Lim had indicated that his position did not differ from the PAC, but that the latter was using more parliamentary language.