The chief editors of various print media have been ordered to appear in the Kuala Lumpur High Court tomorrow following an "inaccurate" report that was published today.

Justice RK Nathan today ordered the editors of national news agency Bernama , dailies The Sun and New Straits Times (both of which used a Bernama news item) to appear before him tomorrow at 10.30am.

The Bernama report dated Nov 1 stated that Bar Council defence counsel, Malik Imtiaz, had said that "the Bar Council's holding of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to discuss Chief Justice Eusoff Chin's conduct following reports in the media that Eusoff went to New Zealand for a vacation paid for by lawyer Datuk VK. Lingam was a noble act..."

"I note that this was never said yesterday," said Nathan when hearing a trial where lawyer K Rajasegaran is claiming that a proposed resolution, which calls for a royal commission of inquiry on judicial misconduct as contained in a notice dated Oct 12, 1999, and the EGM, were ultra vires the Legal Profession Act.

The proposed resolution originated from an affidavit submitted by Asian Wall Street Journal journalist Raphael Pura in a defamation case filed against him by Insas Bhd.

The affidavit, which contained allegations of judicial misconduct, was then brought before the Bar Council by lawyer Raja Aziz Adrusse.

"We must revamp the manner of reporting in this country," said Nathan, adding that the media was wrong in making its own conclusions.

Nathan then told Malik to write to the various papers to clarify the matter as it was unfair of the papers as well to claim that Malik had made such a statement.

"Its time to put right the local papers," he said, also commenting that he had faced similiar problems with the foreign press before.

No power

Meanwhile, counsel for Rajasegaran, DP Vijandran, stated that the Bar Council had no power to comment on legislation and judicial matters except when asked by the government as defined in the Section 42 (1)(d) of the Legal Professions Act.

"You don't go into matters that don't concern you. If you do not like it, then it should be taken to Parliament.

"Just by initiating the resolution, it (Bar Council) has initiated a chain of illegal events and every event thereafter is tainted by illegality," Vijandran added.