Lingam Video Clip was formed in late 2007 to investigate into an allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges purportedly occurred in 2002.
[1] The formation of the commission was a follow-up to a recommendation by a three-man panel which was tasked to determine the authenticity of a video clip of a telephone conversation that raised the allegation.
[2] The allegation was first made public in September 2007 by former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim who released a low quality video showing lawyer V.K.
The Royal Commission began with the purpose of investigating the purported tampering in the appointment of judges following the release of a widely circulated (including on YouTube) eight-minute video clip featuring what appears to be a well-connected senior lawyer, V.K.
[5] On 17 January 2008 Mahathir was brought before a Royal Commission that look the manipulation of top judicial appointments during his administration, a scandal that has cast doubts about the independence of Malaysia's judiciary.
[6] Continuing with the inquiries, former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin was called before the Commission whereby he denied he was a close acquaintance of the lawyer V.K.