Loh gets leave for legal challenge on Islamic conversions of her children

 

The civil court granted leave to Loh Siew Hong to commence with her legal action to quash her three children’s unilateral conversion to Islam.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning granted leave to the single mother’s judicial review application targeting the conversion carried out by her former husband and Muslim convert, Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy.

Nagahswaran, who is in jail on drug-related charges, had allegedly run off with the estranged couple’s three children and unilaterally converted them to Islam, without the knowledge and consent of Low (above), two years ago.

In effect, today's ruling paves the way for the court to set a date to hear the merits of the legal challenge.

During proceedings conducted via zoom, judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh ruled that Loh was still within the time period to file the judicial review when she filed the legal action on March 23.

He noted that she only found confirmation about her children’s 2020 conversion on March 4 this year, meaning the three-month period to file the legal action begins on that date.

The judge noted that the law on judicial review stipulates that the time period to file such legal action begins on the date when the public body’s decision arose or the date when the aggrieved party was informed about the decision.

He further pointed out that Loh’s children were converted on July 7, 2020, but she only found out about it in March this year, and that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has no objection to the leave being given for the judicial review to proceed.

“In any event, as the applicant (Loh) only found out on March 4, 2022, she is still within time (to file the legal action) as it depends on when the decision was communicated to the applicant.

“The applicant has crossed the threshold to argue her case. Leave is granted with no order to costs,” Farid said.

Loh was represented by counsel A Srimurugan and Shamsher Singh Thind, while the government was represented by senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi.

Lawyers Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar represented the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (Maips).

Full custody

Loh obtained full custody of the children through the civil family court in December last year.

On Feb 21, another bench of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur granted Loh’s habeas corpus application to be reunited with her three children.

The following month, she went to the civil court to challenge the validity of her children’s conversion.

The 34-year-old mother’s judicial review named the Perlis Registrar of Muallafs (new converts to Islam), Maips, state mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, and the state government as respondents.

Through the judicial review, she seeks an order of certiorari to overturn the Perlis Muallaf Registrar’s registration of her children’s conversion dated July 7, 2020.

Loh is seeking several declarations, among them that Nagahswaran was not legally fit to convert their children to Islam.

Another declaration sought is that a Perlis state enactment - which permits a single parent to convert a minor child to Islam without the permission of the other parent - is constitutionally invalid.

She seeks a declaration that her twin daughters, aged 13, and 10-year-old son are Hindus.

Previously, the civil family court also denied Maips’ bid to intervene in the divorce proceedings between Loh and Nagahswaran. - Mkini