Govt reaction to the ruling in the Indira Gandhi case (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: All past related cases should be reviewed after the decision by the Federal Court on M. Indira Gandhi's child conversion case, said Tourism and Culture minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.
He commended the Federal Court ruling in quashing the unilateral conversion of M. Indira Gandhi's three children to Islam.
"I have always maintained that parent means both father and mother, and it's really wrong and stupid to interpret parent as either one. And when I was a law minister, I had always said that the father had no right to do what he did," he told theSun when contacted.
Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said she will bring the matter to the attention of the Cabinet as the decision overrides the decisions in previous cases.
"All parties need to respect the decision made by the Federal Court in the M. Indira Gandhi case yesterday. The decision was made unanimously by the five-man panel chaired by Court of Appeal president Justice Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin," she said in a statement posted on her Facebook page.
She believed the decision was made taking into account the public harmony of the many races in Malaysia as well as parental rights as outlined in by law.
MIC, meanwhile, said it is pleased with the decision made by the Federal Court in confirming that the consent of both parents is needed to convert a minor.
“By coming very clearly on the interpretation of the word parent as to mean ‘both parents’ this landmark decision has brought to an end the confusion and uncertainty caused to families facing the problem of unilateral conversion.
“It has also brought to an end the distraught faced by mothers like Indira Gandhi, whose children were virtually snatched from their arms in the name of religious conversion by errant husbands,” party president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam said.
MCA urged all authorities concerned, especially religious authorities to respect and uphold the judgment in cases of minor children who have been unilaterally converted.
Its publicity spokesman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said religious authorities must uphold Federal Court’s judgment and quash earlier conversion certificates where a child’s faith was disputed.
MCA also applauds the wisdom and just judgment of the five-panel Federal Court bench which unanimously ruled that the definition of “parent” should be plural.