KUALA LUMPUR: V. Thirunama Karasu confirmed that the Indian man in the video which purportedly shows the brokering of judge appointments was his brother, Datuk V.K. Lingam. He also told the Royal Commission that he was not mad.
Asked by his counsel Wee Choo Keong how could he be so sure of the man’s identity, Thirunama said he could recognise Lingam from the way he spoke and behaved although he only saw eight minutes of the video clip.
“I can be 100% sure that it’s my brother, Datuk V.K. Lingam. He talks very loud when he gets excited and he always says ‘correct, correct, correct’,” he said.
When the commissioner Datuk Mahadev Shankar told Thirunama that he had to respond to Lingam’s allegation that he was mentally unstable, Thirunama told the commission that he had never suffered from mental illness.
Mahadev: Datuk V.K Lingam said you and some lawyer of yours demanded some money and if he did not give you the money, you threatened to lodge a police report against him.
Thirunama: No, that’s not true. I was at (M.) Manoharan’s (his lawyer) office and he called Lingam and informed him that I had lodged a police report. Then he told Manoharan not to listen to me and I had mental problem.
Mahadev: A man is presumed sane until he is proven to be insane. Are you mad?
Thirunama: No sir, I’m 110% sure that I am sane.
To reassure the fact that he was mentally stable, Wee asked him a similar question again.
Wee: Do you have any history of mental disorder?
Thirunama: No, I was not suicidal, I was not suffering from mental disorder.
Thirunama later also told the commission that he knew about the New Zealand trip between Lingam and former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin.
“Yes, I’ve seen the photo. He wanted to frame it but I said, ‘Annae (brother in Tamil), don’t be stupid. People will come to know’,” he said.
His use of the word annae made everyone break into laughter.
He then explained that he had never called his brother by the name but always used the word annae.
He added that he also advised Lingam not to mingle with judges.
Asked by his counsel Wee Choo Keong how could he be so sure of the man’s identity, Thirunama said he could recognise Lingam from the way he spoke and behaved although he only saw eight minutes of the video clip.
“I can be 100% sure that it’s my brother, Datuk V.K. Lingam. He talks very loud when he gets excited and he always says ‘correct, correct, correct’,” he said.
When the commissioner Datuk Mahadev Shankar told Thirunama that he had to respond to Lingam’s allegation that he was mentally unstable, Thirunama told the commission that he had never suffered from mental illness.
Mahadev: Datuk V.K Lingam said you and some lawyer of yours demanded some money and if he did not give you the money, you threatened to lodge a police report against him.
Thirunama: No, that’s not true. I was at (M.) Manoharan’s (his lawyer) office and he called Lingam and informed him that I had lodged a police report. Then he told Manoharan not to listen to me and I had mental problem.
Mahadev: A man is presumed sane until he is proven to be insane. Are you mad?
Thirunama: No sir, I’m 110% sure that I am sane.
To reassure the fact that he was mentally stable, Wee asked him a similar question again.
Wee: Do you have any history of mental disorder?
Thirunama: No, I was not suicidal, I was not suffering from mental disorder.
Thirunama later also told the commission that he knew about the New Zealand trip between Lingam and former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin.
“Yes, I’ve seen the photo. He wanted to frame it but I said, ‘Annae (brother in Tamil), don’t be stupid. People will come to know’,” he said.
His use of the word annae made everyone break into laughter.
He then explained that he had never called his brother by the name but always used the word annae.
He added that he also advised Lingam not to mingle with judges.
