THE Federal Court dismissed a bid by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department’s (JAWI) muallaf registrar to proceed with its appeal to reinstate the conversion of two children to Islam, which was done unilaterally by their mother.
According to Free Malaysia Today, the Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, who chaired the three-judge panel, rejected JAWI’s application for leave to appeal after hearing submissions from the body’s counsel Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah and the lawyer for the children’s father, K Shanmuga.
“We are of the view that the issue here is settled in M Indira Gandhi’s case.
“With respect to the issue of stare decisis (precedent), we reiterate our stand that the courts should adhere to the doctrine strictly to maintain certainty in law, and we say this is not a fit and proper case to depart from our prior decision,” she said.
Rohana was referring to the 2018 Federal Court’s landmark ruling which held that consent from both parents are required to convert their children.
However, the court did not make any order on cost. Other judges presiding with Rohana were Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan and Datuk Seri Zawawi Salleh.
In 2016, the mother unilaterally converted the children to Islam in the midst of a divorce proceeding at JAWI office. She had converted to Islam the year before.
Subsequently, the father filed a court case to quash his children’s conversion and sought a declaration that they were unlawfully converted.
In 2018, the High Court ruled in favour of the father and nullified the children’s conversion, saying that it is bound by the Federal Court’s ruling. The Court of Appeal upheld High Court’s decision last year. – April 12, 2022
