Former Court of Appeal judge M Gunalan officially returned to legal practice after being as a advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, three years after retiring from the judiciary. The 69-year-old took his oath before High Court judge Alice Loke, who also congratulated him on beginning a new chapter in his legal career.
During the ceremony, Alice Loke recalled appearing before Gunalan in a civil case at Johor Bahru when she was a senior federal counsel. She shared that later she took over his court in Shah Alam after his appointment to the Court of Appeal.
Senior Lawyer S. Selvarajah acted as Gunalan’s master and helped him wear the advocate’s robe during the admission ceremony, where 5 other lawyers were also admitted.
More Than Four Decades in Law
Former Malaysian Bar president George Varughese, who moved Gunalan’s petition, praised his contributions to the legal profession over a career for over 40 years.
He said Gunalan has wrote more than 200 judgements during his time as a High Court and Court of Appeal judge. These included decisions on appeals involving the constitutionality of vernacular schools, Sister in Islam’s challenge to Selangor fatwa, and the ban of the book Gay is OK! A Christian Perspective.
Varughese also highlighted Gunalan’s appreciation to his late father, who worked as a civil servant and made sure all six of his children received a university education despite supporting the family on a single income.
Biography
A Law graduate from Universiti Malaya, Gunalan joined judicial and legal service in 1981. Over the years, he has been a magistrate, senior assistant registrar, deputy registrar of the superior courts, sessions court judge and High Court judge before being elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Gunalan is also married to retired schoolteacher Sithira Devi Sabaratnam. The couple have three sons, all of them have completed tertiary education. One is a lawyer, while the other two are engineers.
Federal counsel Nur Amalin Aishah Kasron, representing the Attorney-General, and Teoh Kok Lin, representing the Malaysian Bar, informed the court that they had no objection to Gunalan’s admission. With him back to the Bar, Gunalan starts a new chapter after decades of serving in Malaysia’s judiciary.
Source: FMT
