Cecil Abraham And Partners

Dispute Resolution

Partner

Rishwant Singh is a partner at Cecil Abraham & Partners. He specialises in civil and commercial dispute resolution and appears regularly before the Malaysian courts. He has appeared before the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court in commercial and shareholders disputes, claims in contract and tort, privacy and breach of confidence claims, land disputes, administrative and constitutional law matters, capital markets and securities disputes, claims in defamation and media, and competition and antitrust disputes.

Rishwant Singh has appeared in several landmark decisions before the apex court in Malaysia, including: the Federal Court’s decision in The Speaker of Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak, ”Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar” v Ting Tiong Choon & Ors and other appeals [2020] 2 AMR 313, which was a constitutional law matter relating to the practice and procedures of state legislative assembly; CIMB Bank Malaysia Berhad v Maybank Trustees Bhd & 10 other appeals [2014] 3 MLJ 169 relating to the duties and liabilities of lead arrangers as well as that of facility agents and issue agents in relation to information memoranda; State Government of Kelantan v Petroliam Nasional Berhad [2014] 6 MLJ 31 pertaining to the territorial rights of States of Malaysia over petroleum won and saved offshore in the continental shelf and the test applicable for a case to be heard and decided solely on a question of law in a civil claim; Stemlife Berhad v Bristol Myerrs Squibb (M) Sdn Bhd & Anor [2010] 3 CLJ 251 relating to libel and malicious falsehood including online publications and the liability of a publisher of a hyperlink; and Terengganu Forest Products Sdn Bhd v Cosco Container Lines Ltd & Anor and other applications [2011] 1 MLJ 25, which is the leading case on the applicable test in civil cases for the grant of leave to appeal to the Federal Court in civil and commercial matters.

He has acted and advised clients in investigations that have been conducted by the Inland Revenue Board in relation to offshore bank accounts and accounts held in various offshore jurisdictions. He has also acted and advised high net worth individuals, ranking public officers, listed entities and foreign defence contractors in investigations involving allegations of corruption and money laundering.

Rishwant has previously appeared before the Tax Commissioners and in related judicial review proceedings before the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court of Malaysia in relation to decisions taken by the Inland Revenue Board and its rulings. In addition, he has appeared in a competition law dispute involving the Competition Commission of Malaysia and the Competition Appeals Tribunal.

He has previously given expert evidence on Malaysian law before the courts of Australia and Singapore.

He has authored the following:

Co-contributor of HALSBURY’S LAWS OF MALAYSIA on ‘Civil Procedure’ (Volume 1, 2002 Reissue, Malayan Law Journal Sdn Bhd). Co-contributor of the following three (3) chapters for the Malaysian Court Forms in Civil Proceedings: Contempt, Issues and Accounts. Sweet & Maxwell’s Malaysian equivalent of the popular Supreme Court Practice (‘White Book’) published in the United Kingdom. Co-contributor of the following ten (10) Orders of the Rules of the High Court 1980: Orders 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 62 and 65 (the Rules of the High Court 1980 are the rules of civil procedure that apply in proceedings before the Malaysian courts). Co-contributor for the Malaysian Chapter of ‘International Civil Procedure’ edited by Shelby Grubbs, published by Kluwer Law International in 2003 (ISBN 9041120947). Co-contributor for the Malaysian Chapter of ‘FIDIC: An Analysis of International Construction Contracts’ published by Kluwer Law International (ISBN 90-411-2323-7).

English, Punjabi and Malay

Inter-pacific Bar Association

LL.B. (Hons), Bond University, Australia Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya