SIS' challenge against fatwa goes back to High Court - after 4 years

The legal challenge by Sisters in Islam against an edict (fatwa) declaring it as deviant by the Selangor Fatwa Committee four years ago goes back to the High Court.

A seven-member Federal Court made the ruling by a consent judgment today.

Chief Justice Richard Malanjum, who led the bench, reverted the matter to the High Court to allow arguments on merits and jurisdiction, which were points of contention at the apex court.

This came after SIS' lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar informed the court of its preliminary objection against the appeal to the Federal Court by the fatwa committee, Selangor Islamic Affair Council (Mais) and Selangor government, since the Court of Appeal judgment which allowed the SIS' appeal did not touch on the issue of jurisdiction.

He said if the issue of jurisdiction was in question, the Federal Court had already ruled in the M Indira Gandhi case that it could hear matters on the constitutional challenge, and hence, the present appeal should be dismissed.

Fatwa committee's lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah and Selangor government legal adviser Nik Suhaimi Nik Sulaiman said the matter of jurisdiction was dealt at the High Court.

Lawyer Yusfarizal Yusoff appeared for Mais.

However, after two short breaks, the parties told the court that they have agreed by consent to start afresh at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.

Justice Malanjum commended the parties for agreeing and said this would save time.

The other judges were Court of Appeal president Justice Ahmad Ma'arop, Chief Judge of Malaya Zaharah Ibrahim, and Justices Azahar Mohamed, Aziah Ali and Mohd Zawawi Salleh.

Another counsel for SIS, Surendra Ananth, said the matter has been fixed for case management at the High Court on Oct 2.

It was reported in 2014 that the fatwa committee declared SIS as deviant following its liberal stand and this was gazetted by the Selangor government on July that same year.

Following that, SIS filed a judicial review application in Oct 2014, to declare that the fatwa was not legally binding on an organisation. 

It was granted leave by Justice Asmabi Mohamed in Dec 2014.

However, as the hearing on merits was fixed, Justice Hanipah Farikullah allowed a preliminary objection by the Attorney-General's Chambers and dismissed the judicial review. 

SIS took the matter up to the Court of Appeal which overturned the High Court decision. - Mkini