Widow appeals court’s refusal to determine husband’s religion

 

The High Court ruled last month that it had no jurisdiction to determine whether B Raguram died a Muslim. (Reuters pic)

PETALING JAYA: A widow has filed an appeal to reverse last month’s High Court ruling refusing to determine the religious status of her husband who died two years ago.

M Rajeswary has also filed an application to stay the execution of a shariah high court order pending disposal of the appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Lawyer Arham Rahimy Hariri, who is appearing for the Selangor Islamic religious council, said he was notified of the appeal and the stay application filed by solicitors for Rajeswary and her two underage daughters.

He said the Shah Alam High Court has fixed the stay application for case management on Dec 22.

On Nov 10, Justice Shahnaz Sulaiman ruled that the civil court had no jurisdiction to hear and determine whether B Raguram, a former secondary school teacher, died a Muslim.

Shahnaz said that determination fell within the domain of the Selangor shariah court.

She said Raguram’s statutory declaration affirmed on March 2, 2015, showed that he had converted to Islam.

“The issue now is whether he was still a Muslim when he passed away on March 14, 2020,” she said when dismissing an application for judicial review filed by Rajeswary and her daughters.

The application, which was filed in September 2020, had named the council, the shariah high court and the Selangor government as respondents.

The trio wanted a declaration that Raguram professed the Hindu religion when he died and that the shariah court had no jurisdiction to determine his religious status.

They sought an order prohibiting the shariah high court from giving the religious council the authority to exhume Raguram’s remains.

The shariah court had on May 21, 2020, ruled that Raguram was a Muslim at the time of his death. - FMT