KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — DAP MP Ramkarpal Singh will have to prove his claim of audio recordings being played in the Dewan Rakyat in the past by end of today’s proceedings to avoid action being taken against him, minister Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said today.

The minister in charge of Parliamentary affairs noted that Ramkarpal had made the assertion that the late MP Karpal Singh, who is also the latter’s father, had played video or audio recordings in Parliament.

But Takiyuddin said that the incident that Ramkarpal had cited, regarding allegations of corruption involving a former chief justice, was not found in Parliament records.

"Checks of Parliament records show that there is no such matter as stated above. With this it is stressed that YB Bukit Gelugor’s claim is without basis and is an act that misleads the House, which is an offence under Order 36(12) of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat.

"Therefore, for the sake of justice and benefit of doubt, YB Bukit Gelugor is given the chance to prove the claim, until the end of today’s Parliament session, July 22, 2020 (Wednesday).

"It is stressed that failure by YB Bukit Gelugor to prove that claim can cause him to be referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee under Order 36(12) of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.

This comes as Ramkarpal yesterday attempted to play an audio recording during Dewan Rakyat proceedings.

Takiyuddin cited Ramkarpal as having yesterday stated: "In the past it has been done, in the case of former Chief Justice, Tun Zaki Azmi who was alleged to have made bribes to certain court officials in Sarawak.

"I believe it would have been around 2007 if I’m not mistaken where the former Bukit Gelugor MP did the same; he played a video or audio recording in Parliament for the purpose of, ataupun bagi tujuan untuk memaklumkan kepada dewan, apa yang dinyatakan. Because in this part of my speech, ini adalah sebahagian daripada apa yang saya ingin menyatakan dalam perbahasan saya.”

Falling under the part governing the rules of debate in the Dewan Rakyat, Order 36 relates to content of speeches during the debate, with Order 36(12) stating that any member of the Dean Rakyat "who imputes statements that mislead the House is deemed to be in contempt of the House and the member may be referred to the Committee of Privileges for the offence.”

Past news reports showed that Karpal who was then Bukit Gelugor MP played an audio clip during Dewan Rakyat proceedings not in 2007 but in February 2009.

Karpal’s clip was in relation to the allegations regarding Zaki. Zaki was reported to have accused the media of misinterpreting his comments in a November 2008 speech in Kuching, Sarawak.

Yesterday, Deputy Speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman disallowed Ramkarpal from playing aloud a controversial audio recording in the lower House, citing a lack of prior notice, but allowed him to read out the transcript as reported by the media on May 30 when the audio clip was leaked on social media.