KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — High Court judge Datuk V.T. Singham went on optional retirement today, the day he turns 65, a year before his term is up.

His move comes just two days after he delivered a damning judgment against Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the police force over the death of detainee A. Kugan three years ago.

Singham’s (picture) decision has sent shockwaves through the legal community.

A court official, who did not want to be named, confirmed Singham’s retirement when asked by The Malay Mail Online today.

She, however, declined comment when asked if it was early retirement.

Singham made a landmark ruling in the civil suit over Kugan’s death when he held Khalid responsible for the suspected car thief’s death behind bars.

The High Court judge was reported by news portal The Malaysian Insider last Wednesday as saying that the injuries on Kugan could not have been inflicted by one police officer with senior officers pleading ignorance.

The civil trial reportedly heard that Khalid told a press conference then that Kugan had died because his lungs were filled with water. A second autopsy, however, showed that the 23-year-old had died of kidney failure after being severely beaten and starved.

Singham was also reported by English daily The Star as calling for the urgent implementation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to protect those in police detention.

Since 2006, the Bar Council and civil society have been pushing for the implementation of the IPCMC — which was mooted by a royal commission led by former Chief Justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah — but to no avail as it was shot down by the top brass of the police.

Former Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee said today that Singham’s early retirement was “a loss to the judiciary”.

“He did not hesitate to hold the government or its agencies accountable, as shown in Kugan’s case, nor was he cowed by attacks as shown in Anwar’s case,” Lim told The Malay Mail Online today, referring to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

According to The Star, Singham ordered Utusan Malaysia last January to pay RM45,000 in costs to Anwar in his defamation suit against the Umno-owned daily for its articles on his comments to a BBC show on homosexuality laws.