KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): The High Court here has granted leave to a Buddhist single mother to challenge the unilateral conversion of her three children by her Muslim-convert ex-husband.
High Court Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh on Monday (Aug 1) ruled that Loh Siew Hong's application had passed the threshold of an arguable case, and granted leave with no order as to cost.
"[Loh] has crossed the threshold by establishing an arguable case. Leave is granted," he said in his ruling, delivered via online proceedings.
'Loh's application not made out of time'
Justice Wan Ahmad Farid found that Loh's application was made within the stipulated time.
"In any event, I don't think the applicant was out of time, since she only came to know of the conversion of the three children officially through the email [sent by the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council or MAIPs] on March 4," he said.
The judge added that even if he were to refer to another letter by MAIPs in February, Loh's application would still not be out of time.
He added that this assertion was not rebutted by the respondents, and therefore stood unrebutted.
He also pointed out that the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) did not object to the leave application.
During submissions on May 17, it was reported that the respondents argued that Loh's leave application was made out of time.
They pointed out that the children — 14-year-old twin girls and a 10-year-old boy — were converted on July 7, 2020, and the application for leave should have been made within 90 days of that date.
However, Loh's counsel A. Srimurugan contended that she only officially received confirmation of the children's conversion from MAIPs in March.
In the leave application filed on March 25, Loh also requested for an extension of time.
Respondents Registrar of Mualaf, Perlis state mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, and the Perlis state government were represented by assistant legal adviser for Perlis state Ainul Wardah Shahidan.
Meanwhile, another respondent, MAIPs, was represented by Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar.
Loh was represented by Dr Shamsher Singh Thind in this matter.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly appeared for the AGC.
In judicial review cases, leave (permission) has to be granted to ensure that the application is not frivolous, vexatious or an abuse of the court process.
In her application, Loh 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 the 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 that 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.
Separately, on June 15, the High Court rejected MAIPs' application to intervene in Loh's divorce proceedings.
High Court Judge Evrol Mariette Peters ruled that the Perlis religious body had failed to prove that it was an interested party in relation to the betterment of the children's lives.