I purposely remained quiet and did not wish to rush into making statements on the important proposal by the Bar Council to re-open the matter of judicial crisis in 1988 which led to my dismissal and the suspension of five of my colleagues, of whom two (the late Wan Sulaiman and George Seah) were dismissed.

I have now read the newspaper reports of the statement made by Yeo Yang Poh, the chairman of the Bar Council. I wish to congratulate him and the Bar for the statements which were so eloquently expressed and put the matter squarely at the doorstep of the government. In fact, I am grateful to the Bar for passing a strong resolutions in 1988 supportive of me and my dismissed colleagues, which to this day still remains un-rescinded.

Eighteen years have since passed. The "darkest days" which Yeo Yang Poh alluded to the judicial crisis of 1988 have never cleared, and despite at best occasional cloudy sky will remain in the background forever unless the proposal made by the Bar Council is accepted and implemented.

I do not wish to enter into argument with ( de facto law minister) Mohd Nazri Aziz with regard to a statement attributed to him as reported in the New Straits Times on Aug 17, 2006. But my comment in order to put the record straight is imperative.

Reading the report, I can only conclude that the statement was made impromptu, off the cuff, without much studies and thought as it was make in haste. He said "the matter has been investigated and there were no discrepancies".

The question is, when was it investigated and in what aspects of this investigation if it was made, were there no discrepancies? Why did the minister make the statements at all? Was he referring to the reports of the "kangaroo tribunal" hastily constituted, consisting of people who were not my peers and whose competency and integrity were highly questionable?

The matter, he said, required no review because "it happened more than 10 years ago". However, to put the record straight, this ignominious incident which has been lying dormant, took place exactly 18 years and 14 days ago, commencing with the date of my dismissal being Aug 8, 1988.

Former golden era

The Bar Council's proposal should not be lightly dismissed as it involves a serious attempt to resuscitate and restore our judiciary to its former golden era. It is not so much my personal interest and that of my dismissed colleagues which need to be rectified but more importantly, the democratic institution and the rule of law which have to be restored. My personal interest and that of my colleagues are merely coincidental, as we were once the judges of this country sworn to protect and defend the constitution.

To make the judiciary function as it is expected to function as a last bastion of people's freedom and liberty, the provisions of the constitution pertaining to the judiciary which were amended following the judicial crisis of 1988 must be re-amended so that its powers must not be shackled by numerous legislation making provisions such as "any decision of the Minister shall be final and not be questioned in court".

Political parties should not be law unto themselves whereby disputes within parties are not the subject of judicial review, thus the parties become judges in their own cause, a clear violation of the principles of natural justice. More than this, appointment and promotion of judges must be transparent if unhealthy frustration within the judiciary is to be avoided.

Whilst preparing this statement, I have had an opportunity to read a malaysiakini report , which contains support to the Bar Council's call given by prominent people. I am grateful to them. I am sure that there are others who have similar views because of the public perception that my dismissed colleagues and I had a raw deal.

I am thankful to Allah Almighty for being merciful to me in prolonging my life so that I will have an opportunity before breathing my last to see that the wrongs and injustices perpetrated on me and my colleagues will finally be vindicated.

Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude to the Bar Council for its unswerving stand and support of me and my dismissed colleagues especially to its chairman, Yeo Yang Poh, for making the proposal.

As I have said, the proposal is for the benefit of the country which we want to see it being governed democratically and in accordance with the rule of law, so the system will endure for many generations to some.