Mahadev Shankar, respected lawyer and judge

Stellar lawyer and retired Court of Appeal judge Mahadev Shankar died early yesterday in a Shah Alam hospital.

Born in 1932, Mahadev was 94 at the time of his death.

His death brought to a close a life distinguished by service to the law and public causes.

His stature as a lawyer and jurist made him a certainty for membership of two momentous royal commissions of inquiry on issues there were of great importance.

It was as if by appointing him, the government which was besieged by the toxicity of issues that swirled over it, could bolster its credibility.

The first commission, in February 1999, was on the injuries inflicted on Anwar Ibrahim when he was detained under the Internal Security Act in September 1998.

This was the infamous black eye incident where Anwar was punched by then Inspector-General of Police Rahim Noor.

The other commission, in January 2008, was on the authenticity of a video clip showing lawyer VK Lingam in a phone call in which he sought to fix the appointment of judges.

Both commissions were concessions to the intense public pressure felt by the government that could only abate from calm inquiry and findings by public figures of unassailable integrity.

Mahadev’s appointment to the commissions certified the government’s recognition of the loftiness of his public stature built over the years when he was a leading lawyer followed by appointment to the judiciary.

Mahadev, born in Kuala Lumpur and an outstanding student at Victoria Institution, was slated for a career in medicine but his father pushed him to study law at Inner Temple.

He began practice in 1956, appearing in many celebrated cases before retiring from active practice in 1983. He was appointed a judge of the High Court later that year and was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 1994.

He retired from the judiciary in 1997.

He released his memoir, “Summum Bonum: The Ultimate Good”, in 2021. The book is a narrative of his life and career at the Bar and bench.

A life of distinction at both spheres ought to have yielded a treasure trove of insights but Summum Bonum is not quite the plum pudding of a book it should have been.

How much of this was due to Mahadev’s loss of his sight is a matter of speculation.

But the fact that he managed to put it on record despite his debilitating affliction was itself an act of fortitude.

Terence Netto is a senior journalist and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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