Aug 30 verdict on Emilia’s judicial review bid against contempt hearing

 

The former wife of businessperson SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin will find out on Aug 30 if she succeeded in her quest for a judicial review into the committal proceedings instituted against her in the Syariah Court.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur fixed the date to deliver its decision in granting Emilia Hanafi’s application for leave to commence the review to challenge an ongoing committal proceeding against her in the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court.

This is over two incidents dated Sept 6, 2019, and Oct 18, 2019, where she had allegedly disobeyed court orders by changing the location of Faisal’s visits to his children, among others.

Emilia and SM Faisal, who have three children together, divorced in 2016 - with Emilia maintaining full custody of the children and Faisal being given visitation rights.

It is understood that this is the eighth committal proceeding filed against her for breaching custody agreements issued by the Syariah Court.

In her application, Emilia sought a declaration that the Syariah High Court and the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court of Appeal have no jurisdiction to hear committal proceedings and punish individuals who are not residents of the Federal Territory for contempt of court offences.

Jurisdiction for contempt proceedings

Her counsel, Nizam Bashir, today argued that Article 126 of the Federal Constitution stipulates that contempt proceedings fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court.

Nizam also argued on the grounds of territorial jurisdiction, questioning if the committal proceeding could be heard before the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court if the respondent was a Selangor resident.

For the record, unlike civil courts which are established by the Federal Constitution, the Syariah Court falls under the jurisdiction of each state.

This led to lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kader arguing that both Emilia and Faisal were Kuala Lumpur residents when their custody was filed and that it was sufficient for one party to be a resident of a state to commence a legal proceeding.

Akberdin was representing Faisal and his mother Zaleha Ismail, whereas federal counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin Md Ali was representing the other respondents in the case, namely the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court and the government.

According to a copy of the applicant’s submissions to the court, this eighth proceeding against Emilia was filed on Oct 31, 2019, but was only granted leave on Feb 9 this year.

Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid did not grant the applicant a stay in the committal proceeding until his verdict, upon the request of lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kader.

Following her seventh committal proceeding, Emilia was ordered to serve a seven-day prison sentence for unilaterally rescheduling the visitation dates for her children to be with their father.

She served her sentence at the Kajang Women's Prison in June. - Mkini