Judge Augustine Paul dies at 66

PETALING JAYA: Federal Court judge Datuk Seri S. Augustine Paul, who sat on the 1998 high-profile sodomy and corruption case against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, died yesterday. He was 66.

Augustine, who died at 2.45pm at the Selayang Hospital, had been suffering from a chronic illness for some time, said his son-in-law Robert Devan, 37.

He leaves behind wife Datin Seri Dr Mary Paul, daughter Dr Juliana Sharmini, 29, and son Alan John, 27.

The casket will leave the house at No. 16, Lorong Taman Pantai 7, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur today at 2pm for the Parish of St Peter, No. 441, Section 96A, Jalan Changkat Riong, Bangsar where the funeral service will be held at 2.30pm.

Augustine was involved in several other high-profile cases including the Perak Mentri Besar fiasco, the case by Penang’s High Chapparal or Kampung Buah Pala residents and the appeal by IT analyst Canny Ong’s convicted murderer Ahmad Najib Aris, which was turned down.

He had also ruled that the suspension of Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six state executive councillors from the state legislative assembly was illegal as the offence was not provided for under the Perak State Constitution.

Former communist leader Chin Peng lost his final bid to live in Malaysia when the Federal Court led by Augustine upheld two lower courts’ decisions compelling him to produce identification documents before he can enter the country.

Augustine, who obtained his Barrister at Law from Inner Temple, England, began his career in 1971 as Federal Counsel in the Attorney-General’s Chambers and later as a magistrate in Ipoh, Perak.

He had also served as a Sessions Court judge in Temerloh, Pahang, Malacca and Penang and was chairman of a special committee on taxation before being appointed to the Kuala Lumpur High Court Bench in May 1998.

Chief Justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi said Augustine was a hard-working man.

“I have not known Augustine for a long time. However, for the short period that I came to know him, he was a very hard-working man until the last moment ... he was still working, he was always more anxious about work than about himself,” he said.

Zaki also offered his condolences to Augustine’s family.