Outspoken parliamentarian Karpal Singh has called for the resignation of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz for not knowing about the pension paid to the judges sacked during the 1988 judicial crisis .

According to the Bukit Gelugor MP, on Nov 25, Nazri made the following statement in the parliament lobby: "I have no intention to make a mistake because the letter (from the Agong to the chief secretary of the government approving the pension to the sacked judges) was not privy to the public. It is clear that even I, as a minister, had no knowledge of the letter.

karpal singh 201108 "For 20 years, no one knew that pension had been paid, so how could I know about the incident?" Nazri had asked.

Karpal told reporters today that Nazri's statement was "devoid of truth" as the report on the pension was published in the Star on Oct 7, 1988.

While showing a copy of the report, Karpal read the contents of the article which stated that sacked supreme court judges Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh and George Seah would be receiving pension benefits.

"It is indeed difficult to comprehend how Nazri could say that the provision for pension to these judges was not privy to the public and that for 20 years no one knew that pension has been paid," said Karpal.

"The public was privy to the position 20 years ago but Nazri, as the proverbial ostrich, has had his head buried in the sand, oblivious to what has been transpiring around him," he mocked.

"If he has any self-respect, he should drown himself in dignity by resigning as a minister," Karpal said, adding that Nazri had "lost that high moral ground from which a responsible minister must aspire to operate".

Misleading facts

parliament gobind singh ban over nazri mistake 251108 04 Nazri (Padang Renggas MP) had aroused severe criticism on Nov 6 when he said in the House that former Lord President Salleh Abas and other senior judges involved in the judicial crisis 20 years ago were not sacked but had their "services terminated early".

However, the minister had later corrected his statement, saying that all the judges involved were indeed sacked but that their pensions had been paid on compassionate grounds. Although Nazri had stated that he had no intention of misleading the House, Karpal had insisted that Nazri apologise in Parliament for his remarks. Nazri has refused to apologise.

The on-going furore in Parliament over incident has also led to the suspension of Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

Meanwhile, Nazri when approached for comments today, dismissed Karpal's statements and adviced him to stop being "childish and petty".

"When it is wrong and you say it is right, that is lying, but I did not know about this. Why should I lie?" asked Nazri.

"He has lost to me many times. The issue is that there was a statement made by me and I have corrected it. The issue of whether I should apologise in Parliament only cropped up later."