‘Duo have no locus standi, govt and AGC do’

PUTRAJAYA: The mother-and-daughter duo who lodged a challenge against the Kelantan Syariah law had no locus standi in the matter, said the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak.

Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli, who held the dissenting voice in an 8-1 decision, said the constitutional rights of Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Natasha Tengku Abdul Rahman were not affected by the enforcement of the 18 provisions under the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 2019 as they were never charged under the law.

“The petitioners also failed to demonstrate the actual controversy between them and the Kelantan state government or how they were affected by those provisions which came into force in 2021,” he said.

He noted that the government, through the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), did not become a party to the hearing.

Abdul Rahman also said it was important for the judiciary to ensure that only petitioners with locus standi were allowed to continue their challenges.

The judge also described the legal challenge as an abuse of court process, as the Federal Court had no basis to hear the merits of the case in the first place.

“The petitioners failed to meet the threshold required for this case to be heard before this court,” he said.

On Friday, the nine-judge panel, with an 8-1 majority, ruled that 16 out of 18 law provisions in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 2019 were unconstitutional. Justice Abdul Rahman was the dissenting judge.