Loh opposes Perlis govt’s bid to revisit unilateral conversion case

 

On Jan 10, the Court of Appeal annulled the unilateral conversion to Islam of Loh Siew Hong’s three minor children in 2020 by the Perlis religious authorities.

PUTRAJAYA: 

Single mother Loh Siew Hong is opposing the Perlis government’s attempt to have the Federal Court revisit a case which saw the unilateral conversion of her children to Islam being annulled.

In an affidavit filed today by her solicitors, Srimurugan & Co, Loh said the state government’s application to reopen the concluded case was tantamount to an abuse of the court process.

She also denied the state government’s claim that the apex court had failed to properly consider submissions advanced on its behalf.

Last week, the Perlis government applied to set aside an apex court decision handed down on May 14 which denied it leave to appeal from a Court of Appeal ruling entered in Loh’s favour.

The application, made under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995, called for the leave application to be reheard by a fresh panel of judges.

It is scheduled for case management on Nov 29 before Wan Norazimin Kassin, a senior assistant registrar of the Federal Court.

In the application, the state government claimed its right to be heard had been “severely compromised” as submissions made on its behalf were either entirely disregarded or not sufficiently considered by the apex court.

In its decision, the Federal Court had refused to revisit a 2018 ruling which held the unilateral conversion of minor children to Islam to be unconstitutional.

Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who led a three-member panel, said the apex court’s earlier ruling in M Indira Gandhi’s case remained good law.

In Indira’s case, the Federal Court had declared the conversion of minors made by one parent without the consent of the other, known as a unilateral conversion, to be in violation of Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.

Article 12(4) states that the religion of children below 18 years old is to be determined by their parent or guardian. The apex court ruled that the term “parent” in that provision must be interpreted to refer to both parents of the child in question.

On Jan 10, the Court of Appeal hearing Loh’s case adopted the Indira ruling as a binding precedent. The appeals court struck down a Perlis state enactment which allowed unilateral conversions on grounds that it violated Article 12(4).

Loh’s children were unilaterally converted to Islam by her former husband, Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, in Perlis in 2020.

Loh took the matter to the High Court, seeking a declaration that her children’s conversions violated Article 12(4). The High Court dismissed her application and upheld the conversions, but the decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal. - FMT