Contempt & perhaps even JAIL if IGP snubs order to find & return child to Hindu mom

KUALA LUMPUR - The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has no choice but to comply with a court order to arrest a Muslim convert and return his six-year-old daughter to her mother, or he faces the risk of being charged with contempt of court, a lawyer said.

Aston Paiva, who represented M. Indira Gandhi in her case against her ex-husband Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, said the national police chief must obey the order as the court had struck out an application by the senior federal counsel for a stay of execution.

“He can appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal, but as it stands right now, he must obey it.

“If he doesn’t obey, then it will lead to contempt proceedings,” Aston said when contacted by Malay Mail Online.

Yesterday morning, the Ipoh High Court ordered the IGP to enforce a previous warrant of arrest and recovery order against Mohd Ridzuan, who had taken his youngest daughter from Indira when the child was just 11-months-old in April 2009.

A year after Mohd Ridzuan bailed, the Ipoh High Court granted Indira full custody of her three children, quashed their unilateral conversion to Islam by Mohd Ridzuan and issued a recovery order for the youngest child.

The same court also cited Mohd Ridzuan for contempt and issued a warrant to arrest and jail him unless he gave up the child.

Aston said that government departments or agencies would by convention respond immediately to a court order, but admitted that it does not necessarily mean that the IGP has to adhere to the practice.

The lawyer explained that the process will typically take about two weeks for the order to be drafted and served on the IGP, after which the top cop will have one week to execute the order upon receipt.

Yesterday evening, a Bukit Aman spokesman told Malay Mail Online that a response from the IGP on the matter is not ready as yet.

Honey Tan, who held a watching brief on behalf of the Malaysian Bar, said that even if a court order is deemed “good order” and should take immediate effect, the reality is that it still has to go through due process – especially if it could potentially lead to contempt proceedings.

“Contempt of court is very technical. You have to strictly comply with all the rules and requirements and because contempt is criminal in nature, judges are very careful in dealing with such proceedings,” she said when contacted.

Should contempt proceedings be allowed, the judge would have full discretion to impose a fine, imprisonment or both, she added.

Tan, however, stressed that the IGP should not hide behind the technicalities of the process since the court order already qualifies as due notice.

“As the judge rightly said, if you are the chief enforcer of law in Malaysia, then you should comply with the order... if you want to ask Malaysians to follow the law, then you should too,” she said. -Malay Mail