Malaysia's top legal body Wednesday pressed for an official probe into allegations made by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim that a lawyer "fixed" judicial appointments with a senior judge.

"Rumours and allegations of such machinations have been rife," Malaysian Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan said in a statement.

"With the emergence of this video clip, the concerns expressed by various quarters in relation to the judiciary can no longer be swept aside," she added.

Anwar on Wednesday released a video clip that purportedly showed a well-connected lawyer speaking on the telephone to a judge, telling him that he would push his name forward for a top appointment.

Anwar was heir apparent to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad until his sacking in 1998, when he was hit with sodomy and corruption charges that landed him in jail for six years.

The sodomy conviction was later overturned but the corruption verdict stands, barring Anwar from standing for public office until April 2008.

"This video recording implicates the highest office of judiciary.... It is mentioned in the context of a conspiracy to influence the appointment of senior judges and pervert the cause of justice," Anwar told reporters.

"In view of this, we have reasons to believe that whatever has transpired in this exchange in 2002 had some bearing on the outcomes in a number of judicial proceedings, including mine."

Ambiga said that "a royal commission of inquiry into this matter and the affairs of the judiciary must be appointed. Nothing less will do."

Anwar named the lawyer and the senior judge during the press conference and said that a report would be lodged with the government-backed Anti-Corruption Agency.