Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim today said that Khalid Yusoff, who is mired in the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examinations scandal, has been told to go on leave while investigations are ongoing into the alleged malpractice.

"When the [Legal Profession Qualifying] Board focuses the attention on him, it is only proper that while investigation is being carried out that he be given the privilege of not being in the way [of the investigation]," Rais told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

He confirmed that Ainum Mohd Saaid, the attorney-general and chairperson of the board, had met up with Khalid yesterday requesting him to go on leave. Khalid's absence would allow investigators to conduct a more thorough search of his office.

Khalid, the CLP exam director, was alleged by the board to have tampered with marks in the recent CLP examinations.

The discovery of tampered results was made a week following the expos last month that some exam question papers had been leaked.

Initially faced with pressure to revoke its decision to nullify the July and October examination results, the CLP board later found itself restoring the original marks of the students' papers, which slashed the pass rate by half.

When asked how long Khalid would be on leave and how his future would be affected, Rais replied, "It is not for me to determine when, how long or under what terms. It is up to the board [to decide on Khalid's future]."

Future of CLP

Rais said the government would also have to decide on the future of the CLP examinations and that the cabinet would be informed of developments on the matter. He, however, maintained that the qualifying board itself as an independent body has also a role to play in the future of the CLP.

He said that whether or not the government would amend the Legal Profession Act with regard to the CLP is a matter that he would need to discuss with the Bar Council.

In another development, the Dewan Rakyat speaker rejected the urgent call to debate the matter by Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan.

According to speaker Mohamed Zahir, the call was rejected because he discovered that the purpose and meaning of her motion on the CLP examinations were the same as those of MP Kerk Kim Hock (DAP-Kota Melaka), which was rejected two weeks ago.

Under Parliamentary Meeting Procedures 18(b)(a), an issue rejected earlier cannot be raised again.