The authorities today were urged to retract the nullification of the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examination and its supplementary test results following the arrest of those involved in the leaks of both papers.

"As the police have resolved the scam, the Legal Practice Qualifying Board should set aside its decision to nullify the results of both exams," said DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang in a statement.

Lim said that Parliament should raise an all-party motion next week to ask the Qualifying Board not to penalise innocent students.

The Malaysian Bar Council should also convene an emergency extraordinary meeting to call on the examination board to rescind its decision, he added.

Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai was reported to have said today that the case was solved with the arrest of two examination board clerks and several law graduates who possessed the leaked papers

Solid evidence

Meanwhile, DAP national deputy chairperson Karpal Singh who also urged the board to reconsider the nullification, cautioned the police to gather solid evidence before any action is taken against the candidates who were detained.

Karpal also called on the present examination board to resign in order to pave the way for new blood which "can devise a fool-proof mechanism against such leaks in future".

"Sultan Raja Azlan Shah, the patron of the examination board should intercede immediately to ensure justice is done," he said in another statement.

Earlier, a group of law graduates who had recently obtained their CLP told the Human Rights Commission or Suhakam about their grievances after their examination results were annulled this week.

It was learnt that Suhakam commissioner Mehrun Siraj who met the disgruntled candidates at the commission headquarters in Kuala Lumpur promised to look into the matter.

Angered candidates are acting in separate groups and exhausting all available avenues to voice out their protests - some are seeking legal advice over the possibility of taking the case to court while others are attempting to hold an negotiation with the examination board.

Under fire

The Qualifying Board nullified the results of the July CLP and the October Supplementary Examination on Monday. The decision by the board came about as it suspected leaks in both papers.

As a result of this, candidates - some of whom have already started chambering and appearing in court - will have to re-sit for the examinations early next year. Over 900 candidates sat for this year's CLP and only 25 percent of them passed.

The examination board's decision to nullify the CLP and its supplementary test results came under fire from legal practitioners and opposition leaders who claim that it was just a convenient way to escape from its responsibility at the expense of innocent students.

Yesterday, malaysiakini reported that a group of students consented to a lawyer's idea to convey their grievances to the Qualifying Board.

Several students said they were told that legal actions may be imminent should the appeal fail.

However, today the lawyer concerned denied saying such things to the students.

"Legal action is one of the options open to us. There are other options and we have not come to this.

"These options will only be discussed if the board decides not to retract its nullification of the exam results," said the lawyer who requested anonymity.