Mahadev Shankar

Last updated

Datuk Mahadev Shankar is a prominent Malaysian lawyer and former Malaysian Court of Appeal Judge.

Contents

He served as a member of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip to investigate into an allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges purportedly occurred in 2002. [1]

Early years

Shankar was born in 1932 in Peel Avenue, Kuala Lumpur to a Brahmin family. Growing up with friends of many races, he easily picked up Tamil, Malayalam, Cantonese and Malay. [2]

In 1941, while in Primary 2 of the Pasar Road School, his studies were disrupted by World War II and the Japanese Occupation. His family moved to the Glenmarie Estate near Klang (now in Shah Alam) where most of the Brahmin community had gone, and then stayed with old family friends who had a bungalow off Lorong Seputeh in Old Klang Road. However, by early February 1942, his family returned to Peel Road. Singapore fell on 15 February 1942 and the Japanese took over the administration of the Peninsular immediately after that.

By May 1942, he returned to school where he was taught Japanese songs, and how to read and write Japanese. In March 1943, however, the food shortage had become so chronic that he and his brother had to work in the Oki Denki Kabushiki Kaisha at the PNT workshops near the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station.

After World War II, Shankar joined Victoria Institution. He was active in debating and in drama. He was the first president of the V.I. Dramatics Society, a successor to the long-dormant VIMADS (V.I. Musical and Dramatic Society) of the 1920s. He is well remembered for his title role as Antonio in the Society's first major production, Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, which played to packed houses for five nights in August 1952.

He was also the V.I. Rodger Scholar of 1951.

Shankar originally wanted to study medicine in Edinburgh. He changed his mind when his father ordered him to go to Singapore on a government scholarship and opt for law. His father was thrilled he chose his family's traditional profession and made immediate arrangements for him to be admitted into the Inner Temple.

Shankar was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple in 1955 and to the Malayan Bar in July 1956. He then enrolled as an Advocate and Solicitor in Malaya whilst in Shearn Delamore and Company, Kuala Lumpur, where he became a partner in 1961. He retired from an active legal career in 1983.

During this period he was actively engaged in general litigation and was a board member of several public companies including Malaysian Airlines System Bhd from 1975 to 1983. He was the legal advisor to the New Straits Times Group on libel laws and the resident representative of the Medical Defence Union.

Judiciary

He was appointed Judge of the High Court in August 1983 and he served in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, and Selangor till 1994 when he was elevated to the Court of Appeal. He retired from the judiciary in November 1997.

Apart from the hundreds of Judgements he has delivered during his tenure as a judge he also served as a Royal Commissioner on two national inquiries and was the Advisory Editor for Halsbury' Laws of Malaysia on Civil Procedure.

With specific reference to Arbitration, whilst in practice he has acted as an Arbitrator in the Whitley Council to revise the Wage Structure of the Postal Department of Malaysia, in labour disputes on the first Industrial Arbitration Tribunal, and in private arbitrations in disputes between dissenting partners in legal firms. He delivered the judgement of the Court of Appeal on the inviolability of the awards of the Regional Centre from Judicial review.

He had the personal distinction as serving as a judge when Sultan Azlan Shah, Tun Mohammad Salleh Abas, Tun Abdul Hamid Omar and Tun Eusoff Chin were Lord presidents / Chief Justices.

Contributions

Social

In the course of his legal and Judicial career he has been a member of the Malaysian Bar Council for many years, and was appointed a member of the National Goodwill Council in 1969, a Royal Commissioner in 1971 for the Reform of the Laws of Marriage and Divorce in Malaysia and for many years he was a member of the Legal Qualifying Board established under the Legal Profession Act.

Since his retirement from the Judiciary he has acted as an Arbitrator in a corporate dispute between joint venture partners on severance terms, a major dispute between the Owner and Main contractor in one of Kuala Lumpur's prime building projects. The ongoing arbitrations in which he is now involved include a construction dispute in East Malaysia, and a dispute between two corporate conglomerates on the enforceability of put options.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators, and is a registered Panel member in the Regional Centre of Arbitration Kuala Lumpur and also in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

Human Rights

In 1998 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Injuries sustained by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim whilst in police custody.

He was one of the founder members of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia which was established in 1999.

Education

He was a Visiting Professor to the University of Malaya in 1998 and is currently an Honorary Visiting Professor in Monash University, Melbourne and is also an associate of the College of Law in Sydney for their course on Advocacy for post graduate students.

International Conferences

He has also represented Malaysia on several international conferences on a variety of legal subjects. These included:

Currently

Since 1999 to date he has been a Consultant in Zaid Ibrahim and Company which is one of the larger law firms in Malaysia, which also has a branch in Singapore.

He is a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International and was recently nominated by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia as its Advisory Jurist to the Asia Pacific Forum.

Related Research Articles

Hussein Onn Former Malaysian politician, 3rd and former Prime Minister of Malaysia

Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn was a Malaysian politician who served as the third prime minister of Malaysia from the death of his predecessor Abdul Razak Hussein in January 1976 to his retirement in July 1981. Moreover, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sri Gading from 1974 to 1981, representing Barisan Nasional (BN) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). He was granted the soubriquet Father of Unity.

Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi is a Malaysian legal scholar and professor of law at the University of Malaya, currently holding the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair as Professor of Constitutional Law. He is also the fourth holder of the Tun Hussein Onn Chair in International Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia effective July 2019 to June 2021. He has served Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, Selangor in various capacities from 1971 onwards. He served as the Head of the Diploma in Law programme (1979–1984), as Assistant Rector (1996–1999), Assistant Vice-Chancellor (1999–2001) and Legal Advisor.

2002 in Malaysia List of events

This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 2002, together with births and deaths of notable Malaysians.

Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL) is the law faculty of International Islamic University Malaysia. Previously known as the Kulliyyah of Laws, it was renamed in 2000 in honour of its founding father and ex-Dean, professor Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim. Being the first Kulliyyah (faculty) to be formed together with the university, it is now one of the largest law schools in Malaysia and has produced thousands of law graduates since 1983: legal practitioners, shariah lawyers, academicians, legal advisors, deputy public prosecutors, judiciary members, ministers and politicians. The current Dean is Professor Dr. Farid Sufian bin Shuaib.

Tun Ahmad Fairuz bin Sheikh Abdul Halim is a retired Malaysian lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of Malaysia. A controversial figure, he held that position from 2003 to 2006. In August 2006, he courted controversy by suggesting the abolishment of English Common Law to be replaced by Islamic Syariah Law. In September 2007, he was implicated in a 'judicial fixing' scandal. He retired in November 2006 and was replaced on 2 November 2006 by Abdul Hamid Mohamad as the Chief Justice.

Tun Mohamed Suffian bin Mohamed Hashim was a Malaysian judge, eventually serving as Lord President of the Federal Court from 1974 to 1982. He had previously served as Chief Justice of Malaya.

Ong Hock Thye (1908–1977), PMN, PSM, DPMS, also known as H. T. Ong, was Chief Judge of Malaya and a Barrister-at-Law of Middle Temple. He was the son of Mr. Ong Teng Up and was born in Penang in 1908. In 1935, he married Chong Khew Yin (1915–1942). In 1943, he married Mary Chung Yuet See (1924–1995), the eldest daughter of Kapitan China Chung Thye Phin.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the V.K. Lingam Video Clip was formed in late 2007 to investigate into an allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges purportedly occurred in 2002. The formation of the commission was a follow-up to a recommendation by a three-man panel which was tasked to determine the authenticity of a video clip of a telephone conversation that raised the allegation.

T. S. Sinnathuray Singaporean judge

Thirugnana Sampanthar Sinnathuray, known professionally as T. S. Sinnathuray and to his friends as Sam Sinnathuray, was a judge of the High Court of Singapore. Educated at University College London and called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, he practised for a few years in a law firm before beginning a career with the Singapore Legal Service, serving with the Attorney-General's Chambers as Crown Counsel and deputy public prosecutor (1960–1963), and senior state counsel (1966–1967); with the Subordinate Courts as a magistrate (1956–1959), first district judge (1967–1970), and senior district judge (1971–1978); and with the Supreme Court as deputy registrar and sheriff (1959–1960), and registrar (1963–1966). In 1978 he was elevated to the office of Judge of the High Court of Singapore, and served until his retirement in 1997.

Dato' Mohd Zaid bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician, lawyer and former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Legal Affairs and Judicial Reform. He was previously a Senator in the Dewan Negara, the upper chamber of the Parliament of Malaysia.

Tan Sri Datuk Michael Chang Min Tat was a Malaysian Federal Court judge, a Commissioner of Law Revision and Law Reform and chairman of the Penang State Planning Appeals Board, among other roles, and was acknowledged for his tremendous contributions to the development of the law in Malaysia.

UiTM Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate faculties of UiTM and is located in Shah Alam, Malaysia. It is among the notable public premier law school in Malaysia.

2010 in Malaysia List of events

This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 2010, together with the deaths of notable Malaysians. Malaysia Day, 16 September was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time.

2011 in Malaysia List of events

2011 in Malaysia is the 54th anniversary of Malaysia's independence.

Datuk Murugesan Sinandavar is a social activist in the state of Selangor. He is an Advocate & Solicitor, High Court of Malaya by profession and has his own firm Messrs. MurugesanSinnandavar & Associates in Klang, Selangor.

Doug Jones (international arbitrator)

Douglas Samuel Jones, is an independent international arbitrator based in London, Sydney and Toronto. He is a door tenant at Atkin Chambers, London, a member of Sydney Arbitration Chambers, and a member of Toronto Arbitration Chambers in Toronto, Canada. He serves as an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court.

Tun Mohamed Raus bin Sharif is a retired Malaysian lawyer who served as the eighth Chief Justice of Malaysia from 1 April 2017 until 31 July 2018. He replaced Arifin Zakaria.

Tan Sri Datin Paduka Zaharah binti Ibrahim was the eleventh Chief Judge of Malaya. She also served as chairperson of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad.

References

  1. "Cabinet nod for panel's terms of reference". New Straits Times. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008.
  2. Malaysian Bar, Praxis: Chronicle of the Malaysian Bar Apr–Jun 2014 (2014). Citation for Mahadev Shankar, recipient of the Malaysian Bar Lifetime Achievement Award 2014. Lexis Nexis. p. 4.

External

See also