Malaysia mourns loss of a great legal mind

KUALA LUMPUR: The death of highly respected former Lord President Tun Dr Mohamed Salleh Abas has robbed Malaysia of a great legal mind.

The huge loss came at 3.20 am today when Mohamed Salleh, who was the chairman of as-Salihin Trustee Berhad, breathed his last as he succumbed to pneumonia at the Intensive Care Unit of the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu. He was 91.

Days earlier, Mohamed Salleh was reported to have tested positive for COVID-19.

Born on Aug 25, 1929, in Besut, Terengganu, Mohamed Salleh, who graduated with a degree in law from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, joined the legal service in 1957, before returning to Britain to obtain a Master’s degree in international law and constitutions at the University of London.

Mohamed Salleh had a long and illustrious in career in the public service. He started out as a Magistrate in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, before being appointed as Deputy Public Prosecutor and Solicitor-General at the Attorney-General’s Chambers

He was appointed as a Supreme Court (now Federal Court) judge at the age of 50 and became the Chief Judge of Malaya in 1982. He was appointed as Lord President (now known as Chief Justice) in 1984 and held the post until 1988.

The former judge was elected as Jertih assemblyman when he won the seat in the 1999 General Election (GE) on a PAS ticket but did not contest again in the 2004 GE due to health problems.

He leaves behind wife Toh Puan Junaidah Wan Jusoh, five children and 26 grandchildren. His first wife, Toh Puan Azimah Mohd Ali, died in 2016.

Mohamed Salleh was also one of the prominent figures who helped to draft the Rukun Negara (National Philosophy) in 1970.

The Rukun Negara, which was proclaimed on Aug 31, 1970, by the fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the late Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin, became the basis for harmony among Malaysians in the aftermath of the bloody racial riots of May 13, 1969.

Mohamed Salleh was once reported as saying that his wish was for the Rukun Negara to continue to be respected and practised so that Malaysia remains a stable country and he also wished that the younger generation will spread their wings to the international level so that people will have more respect for Malaysia.

A judicial crisis, described as "the darkest days of the Malaysian judiciary”, saw Mohamed Salleh’s removal from office in August 1988 after he wrote a letter to the King on behalf of fellow judges expressing disappointment with certain accusations made by then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“You will destroy democracy if you destroy the judiciary” was the strong message sent by Mohamed Salleh when commenting on the crisis.

Five judges of the then Supreme Court were also suspended in July that year but three of them were reinstated three months later.

The crisis was sparked by the tabling of a bill in the Dewan Rakyat to amend Articles 121 and 145 of the Federal Constitution seeking to divest the courts of the judicial power of the Federation.

Mohamed Salleh had also expressed his hope that the crisis would serve as a reminder to the present and future generations on the need to have a strong and independent judiciary.

In 2008, Mohamed Salleh received an ex-gratia payment from then Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim over his removal as Lord President in 1988.

The government had decided to give ex-gratia payments totalling RM10.5 million to those who were sacked during the judicial crisis as way of addressing some of their personal considerations and the hardship they had to go through.

-- BERNAMA