FORMER Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram died today. He was 79.

This was confirmed to The Malaysian Insight by deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustafa P. Kunyalam.

“Yes. He passed away today at Gleneagles Hospital,” Mustafa said, confirming Sri Ram’s death at 12.15pm today.

Two weeks ago, Sri Ram was reported to have been warded in the intensive care unit for a lung infection. 

Sri Ram was the lead prosecutor in embattled former prime minister Najib Razak’s ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial.

He also led the prosecution in the RM1.25 billion corruption trial involving Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined a record RM970 million by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.  

Rosmah is currently appealing her conviction and the case is set to be heard in July.  

Sri Ram was appointed to lead the prosecution in these cases by Apandi’s successor, Tommy Thomas, in 2018.  

Sri Ram, who became a lawyer in 1970, had on numerous occasions represented Umno and Barisan Nasional.

He is best remembered for representing Umno when the High Court in 1988 had declared the Malay-based party illegal (as members from the non-registered branches had voted in the 1987 party elections).  

He was also the first practising lawyer from a private firm to be selected to the Court of Appeal when it was set up in 1994.  

He served as a judge at the appeals court for 15 years before being promoted to the Federal Court.    

He retired from the judiciary in 2010 and returned to practice after that. 

After retirement from the judiciary, Sri Ram first appeared for now Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as lead counsel in the Federal Court for the latter’s sodomy appeal. – January 29, 2023.