Convert's wife succeeds in appeal

The Straits Times, March 31, 2007


Hindu woman gets injunction to stop husband from pursuing custody claims in Islamic court

PUTRAJAYA - A HINDU wife was granted an injunction by the Court of Appeal yesterday to stop her husband, a Muslim convert, from pursuing a claim for final custody of their two children from the Islamic court.

The court also granted an injunction to stop Mr T. Saravanan from converting the couple's one-year-old son to Islam, in a case closely followed by the non-Muslim community.

Justices Gopal Sri Ram and Hasan Lah of the three-men bench allowed the application, while Datuk Suriyadi Halim Omar dissented.

The case has caused angst among non-Muslims as it involved the conversion to Islam of two young children without the knowledge of their mother, Ms R. Subashini, after their father converted to Islam.

The self-employed Mr Saravanan, 31, whose Muslim name is Muhammad Shafi Abdullah, had claimed their elder child, three-year-old Dharvin Joshua, converted to Islam with him in May last year.

The couple were married in July 2001 under Hindu rites and have two children, Dharvin and Sharvind. Mr Saravanan obtained interim custody of Dharvin from the Syariah Court on May23 last year.

Mr Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, the lawyer for Ms Subashini, submitted that there is a 'substantial' possibility that the father will convert the younger child too.

On March 13, the Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 majority decision, ruled that a civil court cannot stop a Muslim convert husband from going to the Syariah Court to get his marriage dissolved and custody of his children.

The court held that Mr Saravanan can proceed to the Syariah Court to dissolve his marriage with his Hindu wife, Ms Subashini.

The decision made waves as non-Muslims worried about the erosion of their rights. The decision meant they might have to submit to the Islamic court in family matters in future.

Women's Aid Organisation programme officer Chin Oy Sim said it was unjust to force non-Muslims to subject themselves to an Islamic court, The Star newspaper reported yesterday.

'The Constitution does not permit Islamic laws to be implemented on non-Muslims, even if they wish to seek remedy in Syariah courts,' she was quoted as saying.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Maximus Ongkili, who is a non-Muslim, said the National Unity Advisory Panel which he chairs would discuss the court's decision at its next meeting.

After the March 13 decision, Ms Subashini had immediately appealed against it.

Mr Saravanan's counsel, Mr Haniff Kathri Abdullah, submitted yesterday that the application was an attempt to prevent Mr Saravanan from executing the judgment and commencing proceedings at the Syariah Court for the children's custody.

He also said the application should be heard by the Federal Court because the matter had been disposed of at the Court of Appeal stage.

The case is one of several that have come up or are pending in Malaysia and created uncertainty as the rights of the civil courts and the Syariah Court seem to overlap.

BERNAMA