FORMER Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram is well known for giving on-the-spot oral judgments and landmark rulings relating to constitutional, public, contract, and industrial law.

Sri Ram, 79, had the distinction of being the first lawyer in private practice to be appointed to the Court of Appeal when it was set up in 1994 when he had never served as a judicial commissioner or a High Court judge. 

He was a Court of Appeal judge for 15 years before being elevated to the Federal Court in 2009 and subsequently retired in 2010.

Here are some of his rulings that made headlines. 

On July 12, 2007, Sri Ram, who was a Court of Appeal judge, made a landmark decision on the case of a 17-year-old boy’s murder of his tuition teacher’s daughter after ruling that his detention at the pleasure of the Agong was unconstitutional.

The case caused an uproar in 2007 when Sri Ram ruled that section 92(2) of the Child Act 2001 was unconstitutional as it gave the power to the executive to sentence a child convicted of murder.

He said it went against the doctrine of separation of powers as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

Sri Ram had held that the courts must have the exclusive authority to find a person guilty of murder and then impose a penalty, and it could not merely convict a person but leave the responsibility of sentencing to the king, the rulers or governors who act on the advice of the executive.

On April 17, 2009, Sri Ram made a landmark decision in allowing former national athletics coach C. Ramanathan’s application to review an earlier Court of Appeal decision dated July 11, 2008.

He ruled that the Court of Appeal has the jurisdiction to review an appeal, which has already been determined, to avoid and correct injustice to the party.

Sri Ram set aside the previous Court of Appeal’s order, which upheld a Sessions Court decision in convicting Ramanathan and sentencing him to four years’ jail for molesting two underaged female athletes in 1992.

On January 19, 2010, Sri Ram made a ruling in a legal dispute between the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and 354 Felda Kemahang settlers in Tanah Merah, Kelantan over payments for palm oil fruits. 

In the case, the Federal Court, comprising Chief Justice Zaki Azmi, Federal Court judge Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, and Sri Ram, denied Felda leave to appeal against the Kota Baru High Court’s decision to order the agency to pay RM7.8 million in damages and interest, to the settlers. 

After retiring in 2010, Sri Ram continued to practise law. 

Sri Ram represented Anwar Ibrahim in his appeal on the latter’s sodomy case at the Federal Court, his defamation suit against Khairy Jamaluddin, and the case relating to the prime minister’s pardon board.

He also acted for counsel on R. Kengadharan’s appeal to challenge the imposition of departure levy on Malaysians travelling overseas at the Court of Appeal and Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar’s appeal to challenge the dissolution of parliament.

Sri Ram also led the defence team in clerk Sam Ke Ting’s appeal against her conviction and jail sentence for reckless driving, which caused the death of eight teenagers who were riding on modified bicycles, at the Court of Appeal.

Sri Ram was also appointed as lead prosecutor by the Attorney-General’s Chambers in high-profile cases involving former prime minister Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption case and audit report case involving Najib and former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy. 

He was also the leading prosecutor for Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor’s corruption trials, involving a solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak and money laundering.

Sri Ram passed away today at the age of 79 at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit last week for a lung infection. – Bernama, January 29, 2023.