PUTRAJAYA, March 27 — It was a touching moment for Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria on his last sitting on the Federal Court bench today when two lawyers bade him farewell in an open court.
Justice Arifin, who turn 67 in October, is going on a mandatory retirement end of this month.
Before the start of the first court proceeding for today, lawyers T. Jegadeeson, who was Kedah and Perlis Bar chairman between 2000 and 2004, and S. Indran gave some parting words to Justice Arifin.
Jegadeeson, 60, commended Justice Arifin for being a judge with good temperament and always providing opportunities for lawyers to be heard.
“I had the pleasure of appearing before Your Lordship when I was in Alor Setar, Kedah, where your Lordship was a High Court judge then. You were a very good listener and hear parties in the court cases with open mind,” he said.
Outside the court, Jegadeeson said Justice Arifin was a very alert judge and could immediately recognise the point of law and would “hit the nail on the head”.
Indran, a lawyer who represented an appellant in another civil suit, wished Justice Arifin a happy retirement and said that they would certainly missed him and wished him all the best.
He said whatever the outcome of the court’s decision, parties involved were always given the opportunity to be heard and it was a pleasure to appear before him.
Justice Arifin responded by saying it was heartening to hear the words of praises for him.
He said he had served a number of years at the bench and hoped that he had aspired lawyers to achieve similar achievements he made in his career as a judge and Chief Justice. — Bernama
