I refer to the Malaysiakini report Two more witnesses for Lingam inquiry .

The threat by VK Lingam's counsel R Thayalan that if lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah testifies before the royal commission of inquiry into the Lingam tape scandal , ‘he (Thayalan) will be furnishing a police report against Shafee of alleged case-fixing before a judicial commissioner’ is a strong signal that Shafee's testimony could be seriously damaging to Lingam.

The alleged ‘case-fixing’ involving Shafee has nothing to do with the issues to be considered by the commission.

Thayalan admits that ‘I’m not saying if it’s the truth or not (the alleged case-fixing) [...] At the moment I am raising this on credibility’.

When have mere allegations against credibility or otherwise of a witness been relevant to the commission? If the commission allows unsubstantiated allegations to be admitted solely to try to impeach the credibility of a witness, it will open a floodgate of such allegations against other witnesses. Where will that end?

What is more interesting is the question why Lingam's counsel is making such threats. To the man in the street, it sounds like a desperate attempt to shut Shafee up.

Surely such threat only serves to emphasise to the commission that Shafee must be heard. And the public now waits with bated breathe to hear Shafee's testimony.