PUTRAJAYA: Whether a certificate of conversion to Islam is obtained in a correct manner is irrelevant, as the civil courts do not have jurisdiction to weigh in on it.
The Court of Appeal – in its written decision in the M. Indira Gandhi (pic) case – said the certificate must be challenged through the Syariah Court, even if it was issued by the Registrar of Muallaf (converts) not the Syariah Court itself.
The Court had on these grounds allowed an appeal by the Government against kindergarten teacher M. Indira Gandhi, 40, against the Ipoh High decision, which had quashed the conversion certificates of her three children.
The children had been converted to Islam by her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, formerly known as K. Patmanathan, in 2009.
Panel chairman Justices Balia Yusof Wahi, who wrote the majority decision, was supported by Justice Badariah Sahamid in coming to the conclusion that the subject matter was purely religious and thus, the exclusive jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.
Justices Balia Yusof said the Ipoh High Court was incorrect to rule that the conversion was done out of line with the Administration of Religion of Islam (Perak) Enactment 2004.
He stated that the fact the Registrar of Muallaf issued the certificates means the conversions were done to the Registrar's satisfaction.
"It is not the business of the High Court to consider if sections of the Perak Enactments were violated, that would be a transgression into the issue of validity of which it has no jurisdiction," said Justices Balia Yusof, in his 38-page-judgement.
He added that a lack of remedy for Indira Gandhi, as a non-Muslim before the Syariah Court, does not give the High Court jurisdiction.
Justice Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, in his 74-page dissenting judgment, said it was correct to use the civil court to challenge a defective certificate, as the primary issues did not involve the Syariah Court.
"If the issue to be decided involves a muslim and non-muslim, the jurisdiction does not lie with the Syariah Court. Common sense dictates it has to fall in civil courts," he ruled.
Justice Hamid Sultan said the Registrar of Muallaf's certificate was null and void, as it was issued in violation of Section 96 and 106 of the Perak Enactment.
Section 96 only allows a person who wants to convert to apply, while Section 106 states a minor must get its guardian's permission to convert.
"The children did not make the application, did not obtain the parents' permission, and did not utter the Kalimah Shahadah," he said.
The legal saga began in April 2009, when Riduan took his youngest child, Prasana Diksa, then 11 months old, and converted the child and two siblings – Tevi Darsiny, then 12, and Karan Dinish, then 11 – to Islam.
The two elder children remained with their mother.
On Oct 29 the same year, Riduan obtained a Syariah Court order that awarded him custody of the children.
In a custody battle that ensued, the Ipoh High Court granted Indira full custody of all three children and on March 11, 2010, Riduan was ordered to return Prasana to Indira.
On July 25 2013, Indira won a four-year legal battle to quash the conversion certificates of her three children.
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