Court denies Perlis govt's review, Loh's three children still Hindu

 

The Perlis government has failed in their apex court review to restore the Islamic status of Loh Siew Hong's three children, who were previously unilaterally converted to the faith.

The three-person Federal Court bench chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Mohammed Hashim today unanimously dismissed the state administration's bid for the panel to review its earlier ruling.

Hasnah delivered the unanimous ruling on behalf of fellow bench member judges Nordin Hassan and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

"We find no merit in this review application as it has not met the threshold of Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995.

"There has not been any miscarriage of justice," she said before dismissing the review with no order as to costs due to it being a public interest matter.

Rule 137 deals with the inherent powers of the Federal Court, stating “for the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that nothing in these Rules shall be deemed to limit or affect the inherent powers of the court to hear any application or to make any order as may be necessary to prevent injustice or to prevent an abuse of the process of the court”.

On May 14 last year, the apex court chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat denied the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (Maips) and the Perlis government’s appeal leave bid to reinstate the children’s 2020 unilateral conversion by their Muslim convert father Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy.

Maips and the state government wanted to set aside an earlier Court of Appeal ruling on Jan 10 last year, which allowed Loh’s appeal to nullify the unilateral conversion of her 16-year-old twin daughters and her 13-year-old son, restoring their Hindu status as shown on their birth certificates.

The Court of Appeal had allowed Loh's appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision on May 11, 2023, which dismissed her judicial review targeting the validity of the unilateral conversion.

The 37-year-old single mother previously told Maips to leave her alone as her children had suffered enough from the ordeal.

“I do not want Maips to disturb me. Leave me alone. Enough,” she had said.

Loh granted sole custody

Loh and Nagahswaran entered a civil marriage in 2008, but their marriage broke down over allegations of domestic violence that saw her hospitalised. She filed for divorce in December 2019.

However, while she was recuperating from her injuries in a hospital, it was reported the father took the three children away and converted them on July 7, 2020.

In March 2021, Loh was granted sole custody, care, and control over the children, and they legally divorced in September of the same year.

In February 2022, Loh’s children - who were under the care of the Social Welfare Department - were released to their mother after the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed her habeas corpus application.

The family now resides in the Klang Valley.

Lawyers Haniff Khatri Abdulla and A Srimurugan appeared for the Perlis government and Loh respectively. - Mkini