May 3 Federal Court verdict on woman’s appeal over Muslim status
The High Court in Shah Alam declared that the 37-year-old is not a Muslim, but the decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has set May 3 to deliver its verdict on an appeal brought by a 37-year-old woman seeking to overturn a Court of Appeal decision to reinstate her as a Muslim.
Lawyer A Surendra Ananth, representing the woman, said he received a letter from the court today regarding the decision date.
The letter also stated that the decision will be delivered online via Zoom.
A three-member bench comprising Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Justices Mary Lim and Abu Bakar Jais reserved their decision on the appeal on Feb 19 after hearing submissions from lawyers representing the woman, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and the Selangor state legal adviser, representing the Selangor government.
The woman is appealing against the Jan 13, 2023 majority decision of the appellate court to reinstate her as a Muslim.
She said she was still a child when she was converted to Islam by her mother in 1991. She said her mother married a Muslim man after divorcing her father.
She also said that despite her conversion to Islam, her mother and her stepfather allowed her to continue practising the Hindu faith which she was born into.
On Dec 12, 2013, the woman filed a summons at the Kuala Lumpur shariah high court for a declaration that she was no longer a Muslim.
On July 20, 2017, the shariah high court dismissed her summons, and the shariah court of appeal dismissed her appeal on Aug 1, 2017.
She then filed a lawsuit in the High Court seeking a declaration that she is not a person professing the religion of Islam, and named Mais and the Selangor government as respondents.
On Dec 21, 2021, the High Court in Shah Alam allowed the woman’s suit and declared that she is not a Muslim, but that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal following the appeals by Mais and the Selangor government.
The woman was granted leave to proceed with her appeal to the Federal Court on May 23 last year on six legal questions.
The court first heard her appeal on Jan 16 and fixed Feb 19 for the continuation of her appeal.
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