Respect apex court decision as decreed by Selangor sultan - minister

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Islamic Affairs) Mohd Na'im Mokhtar has reminded all quarters to refer to Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s decree, which called for everyone to respect the Federal Court’s recent decision to strike down 16 provisions of the Kelantan syariah criminal code.

“I’m going back to His Majesty’s decree.

“The Selangor ruler, as the Malaysian National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs chairperson had expressed his wishes and urged that all parties, without exception, respect the Federal Court’s decision.

“So, I hope with a clear decree from His Majesty, we respect the Federal Court’s decision and the decision is as explained by the prime minister in his speech based on the interpretation of the Federal Constitution,” Na’im said.

He said this at a press conference during the 2024 MAIWP Carnival at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa today.

According to him, the Selangor ruler’s decree needs to be accepted by all quarters.

“I respect His Majesty’s advice. Anyone can give views but we have to return to His Majesty’s decree,” he stressed.

He said this in response to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s recent criticism regarding the matter.

‘Unwise’ judges

Hadi on Wed (Feb 14) lamented that Islamic countries were losing their integrity in maintaining colonial laws, despite the country achieving independence.

He said that while it is stipulated in the Federal Constitution that Islam is the country’s official religion, other religions can be practised freely.

However, he claimed that many legislative amendments have since been made by neglecting Islamic interests.

“We used to have wise judges like Mohamed Salleh Abas and Harun Hashim.

“There are also those who are still alive, such as Mohamad Abdul Hamid, Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, and others who used their wisdom to uphold and defend Islamic laws (while presiding over civil courts),” Hadi said in a statement.

However, of late, we have judges who are ‘bijaksini’ (unwise) and whose minds are influenced by colonial thinking,” he said.

Although his statement did not provide context, it is believed that the Marang MP was referring to the Federal Court decision in which the bench of nine judges in an 8-1 majority decision allowed the petition by Nik Elin and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman to nullify 18 Kelantan syariah criminal provisions.

The court ruled that Kelantan’s legislature exceeded its lawmaking power contained in the State List (List II) of the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

However, the apex court only allowed 16 out of the 18 to be invalidated.

Act 355 in final stage

Meanwhile, in a separate development, Na’im said the government is expected to table the amendment to Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Bill 355) this year.

He said the move would be made after his ministry has presented to the cabinet the final report of the engagement session with stakeholders regarding the amendment to obtain the policy decision.

“So far, the engagement session carried out by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia’s (Jakim) legal department has been ongoing and all states - including the State Islamic Religious Council, the state syariah court, and the state department of Islamic religion - have been invited to attend.

“I understand from Jakim director-general that the engagement session is in its final stage, so the report has yet to be prepared and, God willing, they will provide me with the report. We hope God willing (it will be tabled this year). I will discuss this with the prime minister.

“As everyone knows, we will bring back the proposed amendment to Act 355 to the cabinet to get a policy decision before it is brought to Parliament,” he said.

Previously, Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, who is also former deputy religious affairs minister, “invited” Umno to continue PAS’ efforts to amend Act 355.

Marzuk said the draft of the bill had been “perfectly” completed, reviewed, and approved by the Drafting Division, Attorney-General’s Chambers on Oct 7, 2022, when PAS was in government. - Mkini