The Johor Syariah Court of Appeal has deferred in delivering its judgment over the former sultanah of Johor, Tuanku Zanariah Tunku Ahmad’s application to nullify her divorce with the late Sultan Mahmud Iskandar which was scheduled yesterday.
The court has postponed in delivering its decision following the sudden death of Tuanku Zanariah’'s lead counsel Afshah Ariffin’s husband on Friday.
Lawyer Kamar Ainiah Kamarulzaman, who is the solicitor for the former sultanah, told Malaysiakini the court would not allow her to listen to the judgment.
The court has not allowed the presence of Kamar Ainiah as well as Tuanku Zanariah and her daughters since the appeal started.
“Afshah is in shock over the sudden death of her husband and I drove down to Johor Baru to get the judgment. But the court refused and would only give the judgment on June 9,” said Kamar Ainiah.
It was previously reported that Tuanku Zanariah had submittedseven grounds of appeal over the Syariah High Court’s decision to uphold the Lower Syariah Court’s decision to annul the marriage which was done without her knowledge.
Tuanku Zanariah’s plight only began last August, when she received a letter from Johor mufti Mohd Tahrir Syamsuddin informing her that her husband Sultan Mahmud Iskandar had divorced her.
The letter stated that the divorce took place in 2010 at the Lower Syariah Court and had been backdated to Jan 23, 2009.
But the sultan had passed away on Jan 22, 2010 and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, Tuanku Ibrahim Ismail.
Following this, she also received a letter from former menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman informing her that her sultanah title has been revoked.
This prompted her to mount a legal challenge.
The Lower Syariah Court heard the matter without her presence and accepted the Johor Fatwa Committee’s edict that the divorce, which was allegedly witnessed by Abdul Ghani and the Johor royal committee chairperson Tengku Osman Tunku Temenggong Ahmad - where both of them had made a declaration through a statutory declaration - was valid.
This was later upheld by the Syariah High Court which also issued a gag order from reporting the decision, and hence, resulting in this on-going appeal.
The court has postponed in delivering its decision following the sudden death of Tuanku Zanariah’'s lead counsel Afshah Ariffin’s husband on Friday.
Lawyer Kamar Ainiah Kamarulzaman, who is the solicitor for the former sultanah, told Malaysiakini the court would not allow her to listen to the judgment.
The court has not allowed the presence of Kamar Ainiah as well as Tuanku Zanariah and her daughters since the appeal started.
“Afshah is in shock over the sudden death of her husband and I drove down to Johor Baru to get the judgment. But the court refused and would only give the judgment on June 9,” said Kamar Ainiah.
It was previously reported that Tuanku Zanariah had submittedseven grounds of appeal over the Syariah High Court’s decision to uphold the Lower Syariah Court’s decision to annul the marriage which was done without her knowledge.
Tuanku Zanariah’s plight only began last August, when she received a letter from Johor mufti Mohd Tahrir Syamsuddin informing her that her husband Sultan Mahmud Iskandar had divorced her.
The letter stated that the divorce took place in 2010 at the Lower Syariah Court and had been backdated to Jan 23, 2009.
But the sultan had passed away on Jan 22, 2010 and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, Tuanku Ibrahim Ismail.
Following this, she also received a letter from former menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman informing her that her sultanah title has been revoked.
This prompted her to mount a legal challenge.
The Lower Syariah Court heard the matter without her presence and accepted the Johor Fatwa Committee’s edict that the divorce, which was allegedly witnessed by Abdul Ghani and the Johor royal committee chairperson Tengku Osman Tunku Temenggong Ahmad - where both of them had made a declaration through a statutory declaration - was valid.
This was later upheld by the Syariah High Court which also issued a gag order from reporting the decision, and hence, resulting in this on-going appeal.
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