PUTRAJAYA: A Muslim convert has failed in his bid to obtain leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling which dismissed his attempt to renounce Islam and return to Christianity.
A three-member Federal Court panel, led by Court of Appeal President Justice Abu Bakar Jais, dismissed the 47-year-old man’s application yesterday.
In delivering the judgement, Justice Abu Bakar ruled that the man’s case, seeking a declaration that he is no longer a Muslim, falls under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court, Bernama reported.
He said the applicant failed to meet the threshold requirement under Section 96 (a) and (b) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
The court dismissed the application with no order as to costs.
The other judges on the panel are Federal Court judges Justices Nallini Pathmanathan and Nordin Hassan.
The man married a Muslim woman in 2010, and the couple divorced five years later.
In 2016, he filed an application in the Syariah Court to renounce Islam, but the Syariah High Court dismissed his claim and ordered him to attend counselling sessions.
His subsequent appeal to the Syariah Court of Appeal was also rejected.
He then brought his case to the civil courts, seeking to nullify the Syariah Court’s decision and to obtain a declaration that he is entitled to profess his original faith.
During yesterday’s online proceedings, the man was represented by lawyer Iqbal Harith Liang.
When asked by Justice Abu Bakar whether his client was willing to go back to the Syariah Court to prove his case, Iqbal responded that he would not advise it.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Arwi, representing the Federal Territory Syariah Appeals Court, the Federal Territory Syariah High Court and the government, argued that the questions of law posed were not novel.
Lawyer Kamaruzaman Arif, appearing for the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council, argued that the applicant could still return to the Syariah Court to pursue his case further.
