Lawyer is first Sikh woman to sit as Industrial Court chairman
KUALA LUMPUR: The Industrial Court made history yesterday by appointing Pravin Kaur Jessy as its first female chairman from the Sikh community.
Pravin, 52, an industrial relations law expert from Penang, and Chow Siew Lin, 59, received their letters of appointment from Human Resources Minister Steven Sim at the Industrial Court in Wisma Perkeso here.
Sim said Pravin and Chow would be chairmen of the Industrial Court for four years effective yesterday.
He said their appointments raised the number of female chairmen to eight, out of a total of 22 chairmen, exceeding the 30 per cent quota.
“The four-year appointment is to ensure the security of tenure to the chairmen so that they can carry out their duties smoothly and to provide efficiency to the industrial court process.”
Pravin, who comes from a family of lawyers, said she has been practising industrial relations law for 29 years and has handled cases from the Labour Court to the Federal Court.
The mother of triplets, aged 17, said she saw her appointment as a natural progression.
She said as she had represented employers and employees before, she could bring a better perspective and provide balance to the Industrial Court.
She endeavours to ensure that equity and good conscience will continue to prevail in the court.
“In terms of laws itself, it is there and has grown over the years.
“The wheels of justice could move faster. With the changes in the law, especially with the minimum retirement age, things need to go faster.
“This is because claimants, otherwise, will lose out on compensation that is due to them if we move slowly.
“So, I will be looking at ensuring things move smoothly.
“I hope things will move as fast as I want. That will be dependent on the support staff.
“At the end of the day, it also boils down to the cooperation of members of the bar and the judiciary.”