Sri Ram, defender of the law and friend to all

KUALA LUMPUR: “Malaysia especially the legal profession has lost one of its finest members,” says former Chief Justice Tun Richard Malanjum and a very close friend of Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram as a throng of legal eagles and others bade farewell to the latter who died on Sunday.

“He took it as his life obligation to assist the needy. He might have earned a fair bit of fees from his legal practice but a good portion of it went to charity. May his soul rest in peace,” said Malanjum in a text message from New York where he is based. The former top judge was appointed as an ombudsman to the United Nations Security Council last year until 2024.

“Not many might know. He was the kindest person I have ever met. He would never say ‘No’ to any needy students. Many financially disadvantaged students in Sabah especially the indigenous have benefited from his financial assistances. Some have now graduated as accountants and engineers.

“He also helped in the building of hostels for primary school pupils in the remote parts of Sabah. And the construction of houses for unfortunate families especially for single parents with young children. Yet he never said a word about the help he rendered,” said Malanjum.

Meanwhile, senior judges, lawyers, politicians, friends, family and members of the public, were among the hundreds who turned up at the wake at the Nirvana 2 Memorial Centre, to pay their last respects to the late eminent lawyer, prosecutor and former Federal Court Judge.

Senior lawyer Datuk V. Sithambaram, who knew Sri Ram for 44 years, said an era has passed with the passing of the “legend”.

Sithambaram, who was the ad hoc prosecutor in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s SRC International case, said it was hard to find another lawyer of Sri Ram’s standing and calibre.

“He was a born teacher. He loved to teach. He loved to see others improve,” he told reporters after attending the wake at the memorial centre.

“He would make a serious point with a sense of humour that you will remember at the end of the day. He would make complex issues very simple to understand for the layman. That was his gift and that is very hard to come by,” he added.

And he will be very fondly remembered by his advocacy skills, his pronouncement of the law as a judge and he was also a judge for the poor man.”

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who also attended the wake, said Sri Ram was a great man.

“Once in a while if I make mistakes in my press conferences, he would call me and guide me so that I don’t go the wrong way,” he said.

Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming said Sri Ram would be dearly missed.

“He is widely regarded as the Lord Denning of Malaysia. Not only was he a brilliant litigation lawyer, he was also a well-learned judge,” Nga said, while comparing Sri Ram with the legendary English barrister and judge Alfred Thompson Denning, who was known for his ground-breaking rulings.

The mood at the memorial centre was sombre. After a close to six hours wake, a white hearse carrying the late former Federal Court judge’s body made its way out of the memorial park at 1.54pm yesterday for his final journey to the crematorium in Shah Alam.

His family members were also seen in the hearse.

Sri Ram breathed his last on Jan 29, at age 79.

He had been admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 18 for a lung infection.