Court allows Islamic councils to intervene in bid against unilateral conversion

 

Indira Gandhi, whose three children were unilaterally converted by her ex-husband, is seeking to nullify laws permitting unilateral conversions in eight states in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: The federal and Johor Islamic councils can intervene in the legal challenge by Indira Gandhi and 13 others against the validity of state laws concerning unilateral conversion, says the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) and Johor Islamic Religious Council (MAIJ) had their intervener applications approved, while the court dismissed the Federal Territories Shariah Bar’s application.

High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Shahid made no order as to cost and set Nov 20 as the next case management date.

Indira, whose three children were unilaterally converted by her ex-husband, is seeking to nullify laws permitting unilateral conversions in eight states in Malaysia.

She and the 13 other plaintiffs had filed an originating summons on March 3, and will be relying on the 2018 Federal Court ruling on Indira’s case, which found unilateral conversions to be unconstitutional.

The Federal Court’s ruling in 2018 nullified the unilateral conversion of Indira’s three children.

In the case, the apex court interpreted the word “parent” in Article 12(4) to mean both parents of a child, provided they were still alive. This means any conversion would require the consent of both living parents.

State laws in the Federal Territories, Perlis, Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak and Johor currently allow for unilateral conversions.

Indira’s ex-husband, Riduan Abdullah, remains a fugitive with their daughter Prasana Diksa.

Indira had won custody of her daughter Prasana Diksa after a legal battle over the unilateral conversion of her children to Islam. Riduan then fled in 2009 when Prasana was only 11-months-old after he converted to Islam and no longer used his birth name, K Pathmanathan. - FMT