KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang today demanded for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to review all “flawed judgments” by the judiciary dating back three decades, following allegations of racial bias by a former senior judge.

The senior DAP leader said it was shocking that former Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad had allegedly made a decision based on racial and religious prejudice while serving as a High Court judge in the 1990s, when he absolved a Malay man of responsibility as a guarantor of a delinquent bank loan but not an Indian man jointly named in the civil suit.

Yesterday, retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram was quoted by The Malaysian Insider as claiming that Abdul Hamid’s ruling in the case belied his prejudice when the latter stated “as a Muslim he would not tell lies” when accepting the Malay man’s claim that his signature as guarantor was forged by a third party.

Abdul Hamid rejected, however, the Indian man’s same defence that his signature was forged, although the Court of Appeal later dismissed the judgment and ordered a trial, Gopal added.

Lim today stressed that the allegations contained in an exposé has dragged the image and integrity of the judiciary to a new low, especially after the 1988 judicial crisis when then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed sacked Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges.

“This is most shocking and has revived public concerns about the independence, professionalism and integrity of the judiciary in the past half a century...” he said in a statement.

The Gelang Patah MP noted a worrying trend of former members of the judiciary allegedly making racist and seditious statements after last year’s 13th General Election, which he said undermine the unity, harmony and goodwill shared by Malaysia’s multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

Abdul Hamid was the latest former senior judge to have allegedly made incendiary remarks against minority groups, when he claimed that the position of Islam is actively being undermined by followers of other religions in a speech text posted on his personal website.

Last year, retired Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah had accused Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese community of plotting to “seize political power” from the Malays despite already having benefited economically from the “Malay’s hand of friendship”.

Mohd Noor, who was speaking at a forum organised by the University Teknologi Mara Malaysia Alumni Association and Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung, had warned of a Malay backlash over the alleged betrayal by the Chinese for voting overwhelmingly for the opposition Pakatan Rakyat in last year’s national polls.

Lim implied that justice may not have been served over the years after the public display of racial and religious bias by the two former senior judges.

“What is needed now is to fully restore public confidence in the independence, professionalism and integrity of the judiciary and I call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to review all flawed judgments whether by racial bias or corruption in the past 26 years after the first judicial crisis of 1988.”