Court quashes conversion certificates of two children

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ordered for the conversion certificate of two children who were converted unilaterally by their Muslim convert mother to be quashed.
High Court Judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi made the decision on grounds that the court was bound by the Apex court's judgement in the case of M. Indira Gandhi.
Indira had won the case where the Apex court had ordered for the annulment on the conversion of her three children. However, until today her youngest child Prasana Diksa is still with her former husband, a Muslim convert.
The Apex court ruled that the consent of both, father and mother, is required in the conversion of minors.
Azizah ordered no cost to the case.
The Federal Territories Registrar of Muallafs registrar for new converts Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah applied for a stay on the annulment of the children's conversion certificate but it was dismissed by the court.
"I am sorry but I find no legal basis for a stay," she said.
The 42-year-old mother who had converted into Islam had unilaterally converted her two children who are 10 and 5 years old while sharing joint custody of the children with her Buddhist ex-husband.
The 46-year-old businessman had filed a legal suit to quash the conversion of his children, then aged eight and three.
They were converted to Islam on May 11, 2016 without the father's knowledge and consent, the same day that he had filed a fresh application for divorce at the Shah Alam High Court.
The names of the parents cannot be disclosed due to a court order.
The lawsuit filed on June 14, 2016 is against five respondents, namely the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) director-general, the Federal Territories Registrar of Muslim Converts, the education ministry director-general, the government of Malaysia and the Muslim convert mother.
Outside the courtroom, the mother's lawyer, Rohani Ibrahim, said they would be appealing against the decision to revoke the children's conversion to Islam.
Rohani also said the mother had filed an application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court on losing her custody rights over the children.