The panel set up to look into the authenticity of the VK Lingam video may end up being a sham especially in light of the involvement of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and attorney-general, said Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang today.

In a statement, Lim laid down several scenarios why the three-member panel - chaired by former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor with former Court of Appeal judge Mahadev Shankar and social activist Lee Lam Thye - might not work.

"Will the Haidar inquiry end up as the biggest sham of all inquiries [by] furnishing excuse for inaction by cabinet because there is no concrete proof either way of it being authentic or otherwise?

"Will the Haidar inquiry drag its feet until after next month when Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim would have retired, justifying the stance that the whole issue had become quite academic?" he asked.

The panel was set up last week by the government to investigate into the authenticity of a tape which showed senior lawyer Lingam brokering the appointment of 'friendly judges' into top positions in the judiciary with Ahmad Fairuz in 2002.

Nazri rapped

Lim also criticised de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz's statement that the cabinet would determine the next course of action after the result of the panel's investigation.

"This is a very curious statement as the establishment of the Haidar panel was not decided by the cabinet in the first place.

"The cabinet would be dragged in and be fully implicated for any decision concerning any 'cover-up' of the allegations of the Lingam tape at the conclusion of the inquiry," he said.

The DAP veteran also said that ACA's authority, independence, credibility and legitimacy were undermined when Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail ( right ) directed the agency to assist the panel.

"Parliament never intended the ACA to be subservient to any quarter in its statutory mission to eradicate corruption not to the Haidar panel or even the AG," he stated.

"The AG has no powers to direct ACA to suppress any form of anti-corruption investigation. The ACA cannot have any credibility if it takes orders from the AG on its investigations," he said.

Lim asserted that the panel does not preclude ACA from carrying out its own investigations especially after a report was filed by PKR.

"Neither the AG nor the Haidar inquiry can usurp the powers and duties of ACA (nor can) ACA be stopped from carrying out investigations into the video with regards to judicial corruption," he stressed.

Lim said the panel with its "ridiculously narrow term of reference" should be disbanded without wasting any more time or public funds.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape