Bar Council chairperson Mah Weng Kwai today expressed support for lawyer Christopher Fernando's contempt proceeding against High Court judge S Augustine Paul.

Mah said this in response to a challenge from Fernando's lawyer Karpal Singh who said that it would be in the interest of the public for Mah to clarify his stance.

In a statement today, Mah said: "In principle and in the spirit of Section 42 of the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976, the Bar Council no doubt, wholly supports Fernando's application."

(Section 42 of the LPA allows for the Bar Council to make its stand on issues pertaining to the judiciary and the Bar.)

The Bar Council chief irked Karpal when, at a Jan 18 hearing of the contempt proceeding, he had told the court that the council neither supported nor objected the application and that it was present merely to hold a watching brief.

This prompted Karpal to ask Mah to explain the council's stand.

Karpal followed up the matter with an open letter last Tuesday, accusing Mah of bringing disrepute to the Bar Council by his conduct and calling for his resignation.

'Not proper'

In his response today, Mah reiterated his statement at the hearing that the watching brief was held to enable the council to later brief members on what transpired in court.

It would not have been proper for the Bar Council to be placed on the court record as either supporting or opposing the motion, he added.

"It is neither a party nor an intervener in the application.

"The Bar can always make known its stand on the matter when necessary, at any other time or forum," he said.

Fernando had filed the contempt application against High Court judge Paul in 1999 over remarks made by the judge in the course of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's corruption trial in April the same year.

The judge is alleged to have uttered a contemptuous statement in April against Fernando, one of Anwar's leading lawyers.

The Bar Council, then headed by RR Chelvarajah, had openly supported Fernando's application. Mah was then the council's vice-chairperson.