Federal Court to hear Perlis govt’s review bid on Muslim status of Hindu mum Loh’s kids on Feb 20

Malay Mail

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 29 — The Federal Court has set February 20 next year to hear the Perlis Government’s application to review the court’s previous decision, in an attempt to reinstate the Muslim religious status of Loh Siew Hong’s three children.

Loh’s lawyer A. Srimurugan confirmed with Bernama the hearing date after the case management before Federal Court deputy registrar Wan Norazimin Kassim today. Also present was lawyer Daniel Farhan Zainul Rijal representing the Perlis Government.

On October 30 the Perlis government filed the review application with the Federal Court, requesting the top court to set aside its earlier decision that denied the leave to appeal brought by the state government and three others.

The state government contends that the previous ruling had severely compromised their right to be heard. They are seeking a rehearing of the leave to appeal application.

Loh, meanwhile, filed an affidavit opposing the review application.

The application to seek leave to appeal was dismissed on May 14, preventing the applicants including the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs), the Perlis Registrar of Converts, and Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin from proceeding with their appeals against the Court of Appeal’s decision.

Earlier on January 10, the Court of Appeal nullified Loh children’s conversion to Islam and declared them as Hindus. This decision overturned the 2023 High Court ruling that had initially dismissed Loh’s judicial review to annul her children’s conversion.

The 37-year-old single mother filed the judicial review on March 25, 2022, seeking a declaration that her three children are Hindus and asserting that her ex-husband, M. Nagahswaran, who converted to Islam, lacked the legal capacity to register their children as converts without her consent.

The three children, who were initially placed under the care of the Social Welfare Department, were returned to Loh on February 21, 2022, after the High Court granted her habeas corpus application. — Bernama

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