“Condolences to the family of the late Gopal Sri Ram on his passing,” he said in a Twitter post. He also called on Sri Ram’s family to “stay strong and resilient in the face of this sad news”.

As a lawyer, Sri Ram also represented Anwar in his final appeal for allegedly sodomising former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan, taking over the brief at the last minute in 2015 when Anwar’s other lawyer, Sulaiman Abdullah, was taken ill.

Sri Ram, who returned to practise law after his retirement from the bench in 2010, was appointed in 2018 by then attorney-general Tommy Thomas to lead the prosecution in the 1MDB-related cases and Rosmah Mansor’s graft case.

Describing him as a “national treasure” and “one of our greatest judges”, Thomas said that no one post-Merdeka has contributed more to legal scholarship and the administration of justice than Sri Ram.

Thomas also called Sri Ram “Malaysia’s greatest prosecutor in leading our most difficult prosecutions in the 1MDB scandal”.

“Sri Ram had a world-class brain. He was as cerebral as any in the common law world, incredibly articulate in speech and eloquent in prose. He was my friend, and I am devastated by his loss,” Thomas said.

He added that Sri Ram was Malaysia’s pre-eminent barrister who became the first direct appointment to the newly established Court of Appeal in 1994.

Lawyer V Sithambaram, the ad-hoc prosecutor who led the prosecution in Najib’s SRC International corruption case, said Sri Ram was “most generous” with his legal knowledge to anyone who sought his legal advice.

“This is a rare trait in a counsel of his standing,” said Sithambaram, who had known Sri Ram since 1978. “His love for the law is unparalleled and even after returning to law practice, he went to the court to establish legal precedents.”

He added that Sri Ram also led many other lawyers to argue public interest cases with or without legal fees, adding that his judgments when serving in the Court of Appeal and Federal Court remained in the law journals as landmark judgments, be it on civil or criminal law.

Meanwhile, lawyer Bastian Pius Vendargon said Sri Ram was a “brilliant judge” who was unafraid to consider and develop new areas of law when on the bench from 1994 to 2010.

He added that as an advocate, Sri Ram was quick of mind and tongue, making for a “potent combination”.

“Therefore, it is no surprise he was (one of) the leading advocates in the country. He was always full of legal ideas and willing to share his thoughts and ideas. The nation will definitely miss him,” said Vendargon, who had known Sri Ram since 1981.

Separately, legal practitioner GK Ganesan called Sri Ram one of the most talented and industrious legal practitioners Malaysia has ever seen, adding that he brought “credence, legitimacy and innovation” to the Malaysian judiciary at a time when the institution “was in its doldrums”.

“He reshaped constitutional, commercial and civil law in a way no other lawyer had even attempted,” he said.

Ganesan also described the former judge as someone who was “precise in writing, incisive in analysis and mercurial in his arguments”.

“Apart from his amazing curial ability, he had an eidetic memory, and could recite case law and statutes with their exact page numbers. His compassion and generosity is well known,” he said.

“His industry is legendary. He came to work at 6am and would not leave the office until he was ready. Not once did he even turn away anyone who asked him for assistance.

“There will come a time when practitioners and judges alike will wonder if such a man ever walked the corridors of the courts.”

Sri Ram was reportedly undergoing treatment for a lung infection at a private hospital and had been warded in the ICU since Jan 15.

Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said that his death was a big loss for the judiciary and the legal fraternity in Malaysia as he had contributed significantly to this field throughout his career.

“He was the Appeals Court judge for 15 years from the time it was established in 1994 till the day he was appointed as Federal Court judge in 2009.

“His death is a loss that is felt by the entire legal fraternity, as well as the nation,” she said in a statement.