Ex-Johor sultanah bids to nullify alleged 'divorce'

The former sultanah of Johor Tunku Zanariah Tunku Ahmad has filed an application at the Johor Syariah Court today, to nullify the court order recognising her divorce from the late Sultan Mahmud Iskandar, who passed away on Jan 22, 2010.

Tunku Zanariah, 74, claims that the Johor Syariah Lower Court acted unlawfully to issue the order, eight months after her husband’s death, and backdating the divorce to 2009.

Tunku Zanariah was not present at the filing but her daughters were. She was represented by a team of lawyers comprising Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman, Habsah Arifin and Siti Nor Aira.

She has six children with Sultan Mahmud whom she named as the respondent, who was also the eighth Yang di Pertuan Agong and she was the Raja Permaisuri Agong during the 1990s. The present sultan is her stepson.

In court documents sighted by Malaysiakini, Tunku Zanariah wants the Lower Syariah court order dated Sept 30, 2010, to be set aside and declared null and void, along with other declaration the court deems fit.

There are four grounds to her application namely:

• The court order is wrong in law and is against syariah law,
• The divorce proceeding was wrong in law and is against syariah court procedures,
• The proceeding is against the procedures highlighted in Syariah Court Practices Enactment (Johor) 2003;
• And the order and decision is against principles of justice and syariah laws.

In her affidavit in support, Tunku Zanariah said they had been married since Aug 19, 1961, and claimed at all material times she was the legal wife.  

The former sultanah said she received a letter dated Aug 22, 2013, from the Johor mufti Mohd Tahrir Syamsuddin, with three documents regarding herself that shocked her and she considered shameful.

• A letter by the former Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman, dated Dec 9, 2010, informing her that the Johor fatwa committee had met on Aug 6, 2010 and recognised the divorce proclamation made by the late ruler;
• The order by the Lower Johor Syariah court dated Sept 30, 2010, that decided the divorce was valid and deciding that the late sultan’s utterance for reconciliation is void;
• The divorce certificate dated Oct 8, 2010, claiming that they had been divorced since Jan 23, 2009.

Not called in divorce proceeding

Tunku Zanariah described that she was shocked to receive the mufti’s letter with the attachments as she felt that there was injustice done by certain parties.  

She claimed that she had been advised by her lawyers that the divorce proceeding is against syariah law, and done not in accordance to the procedure of the Lower Syariah Court. Hence, the order dated Sept 30, 2010, is wrong, defective and invalid.  

The former sultanah said she had been advised by her lawyers that the judge is bound by getting evidence that the proclamation of divorce was made and that the two, namely Abdul Ghani and the Johor Royal Committee chairperson Tengku Osman Tunku Temenggong Ahmad, who made a statutory declaration over it, were not qualified to verify it as they are not parties to the divorce application.
 
On the second divorce (talak dua) proclamation, Tunku Zanariah claims there was no affirmation from Sultan Mahmud himself who is the plaintiff in the case, and that any utterance of divorce made outside the court has be reported to the court within seven days.

Tunku Zanariah said the court should investigate whether the proclamation was valid according to Syariah laws and claims that there is an abuse of the court process, when the court only investigated based on the late sultan's report whereas he had already passed away.

“A person who passed away on Jan 22, 2010 does not have the legal capacity to initiate any court proceeding unless it is for the administration of its estate. Furthermore, during his lifetime the sultan had not file any divorce proceeding at any Johor Syariah court against me. He had not made an order or asked anyone to represent him in any divorce proceeding.”

“I further state that the divorce proceeding is against the normal practise as it is heard ex-parte (one side) as I was never called to verify as the defendant in this case. The matter was kept confidential from my knowledge as I was not served any notice nor cause of action,” the former sultanah said.

Tunku Zanariah said the court cannot decide and does not have the jurisdiction to decide on the case without her attendance.

Sultanah title withdrawn

She said that she has direct interest in this case as it involves her marriage and felt that there has been injustice done on her as the wife as she has been bestowed with the title sultanah.  

Tunku Zanariah said Johor MB Abdul Ghani, in the letter dated Dec 9, 2010, which she received three years later, verified the divorce and the withdrawal of her title.

“I have been advised by my lawyers that the Johor Fatwa committee had acted beyond its powers when it made a decree on my marriage which is something personal, and not something of public interest and the problems faced by the people,” she said, claiming further that the committee had also abused its powers.

“This application is important as it pertains to justice and that I am still the lawful wife in law,” she emphasised, adding that she hopes the court would consider her application.

The Syariah court fixed Jan 20 for mention.