KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): The judge who made the landmark judgement that quashed the unilateral conversion of M Indira Gandhi’s three children in 2013, Datuk Lee Swee Seng, has been elevated from the Court of Appeal to the Federal Court.

A highly placed source told The Edge that Lee would take his oath before Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat on Tuesday afternoon, after receiving his letter of appointment on Tuesday morning from the Yang di Pertuan Agong.

Lee’s judgement on Indira Gandhi was made at the Ipoh High Court, when he was a judicial commissioner.

The Court of Appeal had reversed Lee’s High Court decision, only to see the Federal Court uphold Lee’s decision and rule that the definition of parent must include the father’s and mother’s consent to convert a child below 18, and not unilaterally by either parent.

Lee also had presided in the Federal Territory registrar appeal in the Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd and the company’s cross-appeal at the Court of Appeal, where the judgement is still pending and scheduled to be delivered next month.

With Lee filling the vacancy, he would be one of the 14 judges at the apex court.

However, there are still two vacancies following the retirement of Federal Court judges Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil last month.

The Federal Court is the final appeal for cases that originate from hearing at the High Court, while it also normally hears cases with regard to constitutional matters.

At the Court of Appeal, judge Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, who was previously at the High Court civil division in Kuala Lumpur and now with the High Court’s special power division, is one of two judges who would rise up.

At the High Court, Hayatul Akmal had previously presided in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) suit against fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (better known as Jho Low), as well as Jho Low’s parents and two siblings, and Eric Tan Kim Loong, where she had made several orders against Jho Low and his family.

Hayatul Akmal was also scheduled to preside in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s purported addendum case but the matter has been put on hold, following the Federal Court being scheduled to hear the merits of the Attorney General’s appeal in July.

The other judge who is elevated is Datuk Dr Lim Hock Leng, who presently serves as the High Court judge in Tawau, Sabah.

The Court of Appeal would normally have 32 judges, and it serves as the final court to hear appeals for cases that originate from the magistrates and sessions courts nationwide.

All three judges are expected to receive their appointment letters before Yang di Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on Tuesday morning.

Hayatul Akmal and Lim are later expected to take their oath before Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, at the same event on Tuesday afternoon, alongside Lee.