KUALA LUMPUR (May 17): The High Court has set Aug 1 to deliver its decision on whether a Buddhist single mother can challenge the unilateral conversion of her three children by her Muslim-convert ex-husband.
This comes after Loh Siew Hong's leave application for a judicial review against the unilateral conversion of her three children was heard on Tuesday (May 17) before High Court Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.
Loh's counsel A Srimurugan confirmed this with theedgemarkets.com when contacted.
He also explained that the respondents had argued that the leave application was out of time.
The respondents contended that as the children — 14-year-old twin girls and a 10-year-old boy — were converted on July 7, 2020, the application for leave should have been made within 90 days of that date.
However, Srimurugan said that Loh only got confirmation of the conversion on March 21 when she was reunited with her children.
Furthermore, Loh's counsel added that they only officially received confirmation of the children's conversion from the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council on March 10.
"If the court feels the application was made out of time, we have also requested for an extension of time in our application," he said.
Respondents Registrar of Mualaf, Perlis state mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and the Perlis state government were represented by assistant legal advisor for Perlis state Ainul Wardah Shahidan.
Meanwhile, another respondent, namely the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, was represented by Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar.
Among others, Loh, 34, is seeking declarations that her chidren are Hindu (her ex-husband M Nagashwaran's religion prior to his conversion) and that the children are legally unfit to embrace Islam without Loh's approval.
She is also seeking a declaration that her former husband is legally unfit to allow Registrar of Mualaf to convert their children without her approval.
Furthermore, Loh is seeking a certiorari order to reverse her children's registration of conversion to Islam dated July 7, 2020 issued by the registrar.
She is also seeking a declaration that the Perlis state's legal provision that allows for one parent to convert a child is unconstitutional.
Loh's divorce was finalised in September 2021, and earlier in March the same year, she secured a court order which gave her full and sole custody of her children. Despite the court order, she claimed that her children were still kept from her.
On Feb 21 this year, the court allowed the single mother's habeas corpus application and she was reunited with her three children who were at that point under the Social Welfare Department's care.