T. Gunaseelan

On the court record

A general civil and commercial litigation practice weighted toward contract, tort and commercial disputes.

T. Gunaseelan practises in civil and commercial litigation, appearing across the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) and the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi), with the reported decisions recording appearances as appellant, respondent and defendant. The caseload is contract, tort and commercial. Contract disputes recur, including a matter engaging the doctrine of privity of contract — which governs who may enforce a contract — and an aviation-services dispute involving a major airport operator.

A recurring theme is the integrity of a judgment and of the underlying transaction. The reported matters include an allegation that a judgment was obtained by fraud, engaging the exceptional grounds on which a concluded decision may be reopened, and a medical-negligence claim turning on the effect of a settlement agreement. There is also land and negligence work, so the practice reaches both institutional commercial disputes and private tort and property claims. Appearing on both sides of the record, the practice is instructed in enforcing and in resisting civil claims.

The work turns on the construction of contracts and on the principles of tort and civil procedure. In the privity matters the argument concerns who is entitled to sue on the contract; in the aviation-services matter the terms of the commercial arrangement; in the fraud matters the strict requirements for setting aside a judgment; and in the negligence matters the standard of care and the effect of a compromise. Several matters reach the Court of Appeal on questions of law arising below.

The overall profile is a general civil and commercial litigation practice conducted at first instance and on appeal, weighted toward contract, tort and commercial disputes, with a recurring integrity-of-judgment strand. The matters turn on the construction of agreements, the doctrine of privity, and the finality of judgments and settlements, rather than on any criminal or public-law dimension.