Liberal Party lawmaker Tommy Cheung, who sits on the Chinese University's council, on Friday denied he had bypassed the institution’s governing body by moving a bill in Legco to downsize it.

Cheung's response came after his fellow member in the council, Kelvin Yeung, criticised him for moving the bill without notifying other members.

At a Legco bills committee meeting, Cheung, along with fellow lawmakers Bill Tang and Lau Kwok-fan who also moved the bill, said the proposed changes were submitted to Legco last December, and the CUHK council was well aware of them.

The bill proposes cutting the university’s council membership from 55 to 34, and adding more external representatives.

"I don't think anyone doesn't know about the bill in the council. From the introduction of the bill until today, I've been constantly talking to people about the bill," Cheung said.

Bill Tang also defended their decision to move the bill, saying the institution had not sought to amend its ordinance over the past decade.

In response, the university body's chairman, John Chai, said there had been plans to restructure the council in 2009 and 2016 respectively. But he said a slew of social incidents and other hiccups meant the proposed amendments had not been submitted to Legco for scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Bills Committee, Priscilla Leung, said there won’t be a public hearing over the issue.

She said open discussions could turn into personal attacks, and called on stakeholders to express their views in writing as soon as possible.