Penang High Court judge R K Nathan was wrong to have incorporated his grouses against Court of Appeal judge Gopal Sri Ram in a written judgment regarding an unrelated civil case, said a former judge today.

Former Court of Appeal judge Shaik Daud Ismail said Nathan should have lodged a complaint with Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah instead.

"If judges have problems, they should bring it up to their superior either the chief judges or the chief justice and let them handle it. In this case, what Nathan did was wrong. How could he raise his dissatisfaction in another case which is totally unrelated.

"The case he was hearing was an accident case. Nothing to do with the issue he is raising. Not only that, he incorporated the issue in the judgment itself. This is wrong. The worst thing you can do is make a comment after delivering your judgment. He was making use of another case." he told malaysiakini .

Shaik Daud was commenting on the open confrontation between the two judges which peaked yesterday when Nathan, in part of a judgment, accused Gopal of making personal attacks against High Court judges, and had targetted him for personal vilification in open court.

Nathan claimed that in a Court of Appeal hearing on July 25 when, while setting aside Nathan's conviction of a lawyer for contempt, Gopal said judges should not launch contempt proceedings vindictively and "purely for personal ego".

It is said that Gopal made the remark "off the cuff" when he and two other Court of Appeal judges Abdul Kadir Sulaiman and Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, had set aside a RM10,000 fine imposed on lawyer Lee Chan Leong for allegedly committing contempt before Nathan in April 1999.

Nathan added that Gopal had no right to make personal attacks against him and that he will not accept such "dastard" treatment.

He said Gopal cannot play God and conclude that his opinion is as infallible as God's judgment when his own judgments have been reversed many times by the Federal Court.

By making unwarranted and personal attacks against him, Nathan said Gopal had sullied the hallowed name of justice.

Behave like God

Although Shaik Daud agreed that judges at the higher court sometimes need to comment on the conduct of judges at the lower courts, he said the comment must be made in a discreet manner.

"If it has to be said, then it should be said. Sometimes judges at the higher court just have to comment because there are judges who behave like God they say and do anything. They are so sensitive and will threaten contempt on the slightest mistake.

"But the language you use is very important. You should not mention their names. This is to ensure that your comment is not seen as a personal attack against the lower court judge," he added.

Shaik Daud said the exchange of words between Nathan and Gopal in the media was a blow to the judiciary.

"This will damage the judiciary and will effect all judges including the CJ himself," he added.

Shaik Daud also advised all judges to take their grouses to their superiors or settle their differences between themselves in chamber.

"Go to the CJ or face each other in chamber and settle it among yourselves. After all they are all friends within the same institution. You must not trash it out in public," he said.