High Court says their late mother disregarded her estranged husband’s rights by registering their daughters as Muslims while they were still legally married.
SHAH ALAM: The High Court here has quashed the unilateral conversion of two sisters to Islam by their late mother. The sisters – identified as X and Y – were converted by their late mother at two locations in Pahang and Selangor in 2018, when they were nine and seven years old respectively.
X is now 17, while Y will turn 15 this year. At the time, their parents were estranged, and their biological father, identified as L, had left the country to work elsewhere. The father later discovered that his estranged wife had filed a petition to dissolve their marriage and obtained custody of the sisters. After the mother’s death in 2023, L found out for the first time that his daughters had been converted to Islam.
He filed a judicial review seeking to quash their conversions, naming the Pahang and Selangor governments, as well as their respective religious departments, as respondents. Justice S Narkunavathy allowed the father’s application, stating that the court was bound by the Federal Court’s 2018 ruling in the case of M Indira Gandhi, which held that both parents must consent before a child’s religion can be changed.
The 2018 decision was later affirmed in another judicial review brought by a father involving his two children, as well as the case involving Loh Siew Hong’s three children.
“This court is bound by the definitive precedent in Indira Gandhi, wherein the Federal Court removed any remaining ambiguity surrounding Article 12 of the Federal Constitution and its application,” Narkunavathy said. “The purposive interpretation of the word ‘parent’ in that provision requires the consent of both parents.
This is not merely a linguistic choice but a constitutional safeguard intended to protect the joint rights of both mother and father in the religious upbringing of their child,” she added. The judge also pointed out that when the late mother registered the sisters as Muslims, she had yet to obtain full custody of them.
“This court finds that by unilaterally converting the children before being granted legal custody, the mother had acted in total disregard of the father’s rights as a joint guardian at the time,” Narkunavathy said. The court also addressed the Selangor government’s argument that the Bahasa Melayu version of the Federal Constitution was the authoritative text. The national language version states that either the father or mother may determine a child’s religion and upbringing.
However, Narkunavathy said there had never been any formal gazette notification informing the public that the Bahasa Melayu version was the authoritative text.
“This court finds that the launch ceremony held in 2003 was a symbolic and administrative event. It cannot constitute a formal prescription in the constitutional sense.
“A letter from His Royal Highness is an expression of intent. While historically significant, it is insufficient to meet the constitutional requirements.
“The letter cannot bypass the legislative and constitutional process required to alter the authoritative language of the supreme law of the land,” she said. Both state governments have filed appeals against the decision.
Please follow us on Google to support usConversion Federal Constitution Indira Gandhi Islam Judicial Review Pahang Selangor Sisters
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Singapore High Court Awards Ministers S$230,000 Each in Defamation Suit Against BloombergThe High Court of Singapore awarded Cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng S$230,000 each in damages after ruling in their favour in a defamation suit against Bloomberg and its journalist. The case stemmed from a Bloomberg article published on Dec 12, 2024, titled Singapore mansion deals are increasingly shrouded in secrecy, which mentioned the ministers property transactions involving Good Class Bungalows. Justice Audrey Lim found the article implied the ministers conducted their property deals in a non-transparent manner to avoid scrutiny, including possible money laundering, thereby lowering them in public estimation.
Read more »
WCT insider trading case: Ex-director, businessman lose appeals as appellate court rules RM5.83m penalty standsKUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — The Court of Appeal today upheld the High Court’s decision which found former deputy managing director of WCT Bhd (WCT) Goh Chin Liong and Ara Holdings...
Read more »
High Court shields auction buyers from strata arrearsJudicial commissioner Moh Kok Wai says the law does not allow innocent purchasers to inherit the financial failures of strangers.
Read more »
High Court Rules Auction Buyers Not Liable for Prior Owners' Strata DebtsThe High Court has ruled that buyers of strata properties at court-ordered auctions cannot automatically be held responsible for unpaid maintenance charges and sinking fund arrears incurred by previous owners. The landmark decision arose from a case where a purchaser of an office unit at Megan Avenue 1 was demanded to pay over RM182,000 in arrears. Judicial Commissioner Moh Kok Wai held that the buyer, having acquired the property through a judicial sale, did not qualify as a "successor-in-title" under the Strata Management Act 2013 and thus could not be held liable for the former owner's debts.
Read more »