Appeals court wants counsel to submit arguments on Attorney-General's role in Church's case

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal wants counsel in the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church case to submit further arguments on whether the intervention of the Federal Territory Islamic Council (MAIWP) in the church's matter would affect the Attorney-General's role as a guardian of public interest.
Justice Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, who chaired the three-member bench, requested counsel Lim Heng Seng and the church's president, Reverend Datuk Jerry W.A Dusing@ Jerry W. Patel, and MAIWP's lawyer, Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, to research on the issue and submit their additional submissions to the court by Aug 12.
SIB church is appealing against the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision last Feb 23 to allow MAIWP to intervene in a judicial review action brought by the church over its right to use the word "Allah" in its religious publications and practices.
Justice Hamid Sultan questioned whether MAIWP, in intervening in the case, would take away the right of the Attorney-General as a guardian of public interest, adding his role must be clarified.
The other two judges were Justice Datuk Zamani A. Rahim and Datuk Zaleha Yusof.
The panel had earlier received submissions from counsel on other issues in the appeal.