The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) said last night PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim failed to meet the deadline given to him to surrender the original recording of a video clip purportedly showing a prominent lawyer brokering the appointment of judges.

According to a ACA statement issued late last night and carried by Bernama , ACA said the original recording was to be submitted by Anwar to the ACA by Thursday (Oct 25), failing which he is liable to face court action Under Section 59 of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.

The statement also said that 'the onus lay with Anwar to deliver the clip at the ACA's headquarters in Putrajaya and not ask ACA officers to come to his office to get it'.

However, Malaysiakini published a story with a different view - ACA officers not showing up at the PKR office to get the full-length tape.

The country's former number two also said yesterday that he was 'ready' to hand over the full-length tape to the ACA had they showed up at his office.

Not politically motivated

But Bernama however reported that the ACA had accused Anwar of wanting to hand over a copy of the tape in the form of a 'pen drive' of the eight minutes of the original, which is actually 14 minutes long.

The ACA also denied that its action to get the original recording was politically motivated as alleged by Anwar.

The body claims it is assisting a three-man independent panel set up by the government to verify the authenticity of the video clip.

The eight-minute clip that Anwar released on Sept 19 showed senior lawyer VK Lingam in a phone conversation with current Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, apparently brokering the appointment of 'friendly judges'.

Ahmad Fairuz, who was chief judge of Malaya at the time, has denied his involvement through de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape