Citing Indira Gandhi precedent, Federal Court rejects Muslim convert mum's bid to restore kids' unilateral conversion

• Published date: 12 April 2022
• Publication title: Malay Mail Online

A Buddhist-turned-Muslim mother today failed to convince the country's highest court to grant her leave to restore her two children's unilateral conversion to Islam.

Following the three-judge panel at the Federal Court's decision today, this means that the Court of Appeal's decision -- in favour of the woman's Buddhist ex-husband and which overturned the unilateral conversion of their two children last year - still stands.

Today's Federal Court panel also unanimously dismissed the applications for leave to appeal filed by the Muslim convert mother and the Federal Territories Registrar of Muslim Converts.

The two parents are not named to protect their privacy.

Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf who chaired today's Federal Court panel, cited the doctrine of stare decisis in their ruling as the issues raised by the appellants were identical to those previously decided in the Federal Court's 2018 decision in M. Indira Gandhi's case.

Stare decisis, meaning 'to stand by things decided' in Latin is a judicial doctrine under which a court follows the principles, rules, or standards of its prior decisions or decisions of higher tribunals when deciding a subsequent case with arguably similar facts.

'With respect to the issue of stare decisis, we reiterate that it is 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.

"The function of the court is confined to the administrative aspect of the public functions of the Registrar of Muslim Converts which has to be exercised in accordance with the law.

'And finally we are also of the view that it is not the function of the court to ascertain the competence of a person wishing to convert from one religion to another and it is a matter nonjusticiable.

'In view of reasons we set out above, we do not find the threshold of Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act to have been met, we therefore dismiss both applications and we make no order to cost,' she said in delivering the panel's brief decision through video-conferencing.

The Federal Court had earlier heard the submissions from lawyers Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah appearing for the Federal Territories Registrar of Muslim Converts, Arham Rahimy Hariri for the Muslim convert mother and K. Shanmuga for the Buddhist father.

The two other judges on the Federal Court panel today were Datuk Seri Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan.

In Malaysia...