His first case was a murder trial that was assigned to him after all the other 12 lawyers refused the brief because they were convinced the accused would be convicted and hanged.

“I was called in to see the court registrar, Joo Peng Lin, who was a delightful pipe smoker. He told me, ‘Look, I want you to take on this case,’ ” said Shankar in his book, Summum Bonum (The Ultimate Good).

The 90-year-old retired Court of Appeal judge said he explained that he had just arrived in Seremban and asked for more time to consider whether to take on the case.

He made inquiries from other lawyers, Edgar Joseph (who retired as a Federal Court judge) and HW Tan. Both advised him against taking it as they had seen the brief.

Shankar recalled Joo as saying: “If you don’t take this case, you are going to shame me because I will have to send this file back to Kuala Lumpur. The fact that the lawyers in Seremban won’t take this case will be a bad reflection on me.”

Shankar finally agreed to take on the case.

The case concerned a barber in Bahau, an Indian national, who had killed his sister-in-law while the brother was in India.

According to the accused, the victim, Ammani, was being courted by a young barber at the shop and he had advised her against getting involved with the man.

She called the accused a leper and that he was undesirable to any woman. This triggered his rage, leading him to grab a kitchen knife and stab her once.

Shankar relied on the defence of provocation because of the statement made by the woman about the accused’s skin condition.

He submitted a mountain of case laws on provocation. Following a hint by the trial judge, who was assisted by two lay assessors, he focused on the facts of the case and sat down.

In the end, the accused was acquitted of murder but convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to seven years in jail.

“When I look back at that case, I do not consider it a loss. Far from it, this case impacted positively on my reputation as a lawyer,” he said.

Shankar was also the lawyer who in 1975 appeared in the widely followed body-in-trunk case where Colombo Plan expert Kingsley John Lewis was charged with the murder of Maria Theresa, said to be a philandering and abusive wife.

Lewis was found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced to three years jail.

In his book, Shankar also said Edgar Joseph, who himself was a formidable defence lawyer before his elevation to the Bench, had advised him that judges were more concerned about facts and not blazing new trails in legal knowledge.

Recalling his three-year stint in Seremban, Shankar, who had served as a member of two Royal Commissions of Inquiry and the Human Rights Commission, said he recognised it as forming the foundation of his career.

Lawyer Santhi Latha had been collating and editing the 408-page book since 2013 after listening and putting Shankar’s thoughts and views in writing due to his failing eyesight.

The book presents Shankar’s life, experiences and reflections that contain stories that are absorbing, some even tantalising, as readers travel with the author from early Malaya until his elevation as a judge and after retirement.

Former Federal Court judge Zainun Ali launched the book, which is published by Sweet & Maxwell.

The book is now available at major bookstores.