KUALA LUMPUR — Former Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mahadev Shankar, renowned for his legal acumen, mastery of languages and enduring contributions to Malaysian jurisprudence. He was 94.
His death was confirmed to Bernama by his close friend, Malaysia-India Heritage Society founder-president Prabhakaran Nair, who said Mahadev died at the Shah Alam Hospital at 2am today.
Throughout his distinguished legal career, Mahadev served on three Royal Commissions of Inquiry (RCI), including the RCI in 1999 that probed the infamous “black eye” injury sustained by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while in police custody after his sacking from government the year prior.
Mahadev had also served on the 1971 RCI on Law Reform of the Laws of Marriage and Divorce, and the 2007 RCI on judicial impropriety related to the VK Lingam video clip.
His involvement in the inquiries reflected his longstanding engagement with questions of justice, the rule of law and the accountability of public institutions, and the citation by the Malaysian Bar in 2014 when Mahadev was recipient of the Bar’s Lifetime Achievement Award described as the “epitome of what a great judge should be”.
He was also one of the early commissioners of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), in 2000, after the government gazetted its creation.
Mahadev began his legal career in the 1950s and was appointed a High Court judge in August 1983 before being elevated to the Court of Appeal in 1994. He retired from the Bench in November 1997.
Born in Kuala Lumpur in 1932, Mahadev’s early exposure to the courts, coupled with a strong grounding in classical literature and languages, shaped a distinguished career spanning legal practice, judicial service and legal scholarship.
He began practising in Seremban before joining the law firm Shearn Delamore & Co, where he became a partner in 1961. He remained with the firm throughout his legal practice, handling a broad range of cases involving commercial and civil disputes, criminal law and medical negligence.
Mahadev was also recognised for his contributions to legal scholarship. An article he published in the Malayan Law Journal in 1984 on the distinction between putting a case to a witness and merely suggesting something to the witness continued to be cited by the Court of Appeal decades later.
His judgments covered issues ranging from employment disputes and damages in matrimonial cases to delays in the administration of justice.
In one ruling, he cautioned against delays that could leave litigants receiving their awards years later, when victory had become “academic or worse still pyrrhic”.
In a 2014 interview, he described judges as “tigers under the throne”, adapting a phrase traditionally associated with the judiciary’s role under the Crown to reflect the Malaysian context.
Some aspects of Mahadev’s legal career, scholarship and approach to the law were also highlighted by author and senior constitutional lawyer GK Ganesan in his article, Is There Any Point in Learning Things by Heart, in which he paid tribute to the late judge.
“He was one of the most learned men ever to sit on our Bench. Old English, Sanskrit, the Vedas, the whole of English literature: he knew them as other judges know their law reports. In that company, no judge in this country has equalled him,” Ganesan said.
Prabhakaran today told Bernama that funeral arrangements would be announced later.
“Sadly, the Malaysia-India Heritage Society has lost a dear well-wisher whose friendship and goodwill we shall always cherish.
“His contributions to the Malaysian judiciary and involvement in the advancement of human rights, including his association with Suhakam form an important part of his legacy,” he said. – October 26, 2026