PETALING JAYA, May 29 —The police are seeking advice from the Attorney-General's Chambers in a high-profile child dispute despite a court order compelling them to track down and return the child abducted by his Muslim-convert father.

In April, the Seremban High Court awarded custody of the child to his mother, Deepa Subramaniam, a Hindu, but her ex-husband who had converted to Islam snatched the child just two days after the court ruling.

The ruling was at odds with a Shariah court decision last year giving custody to the man, Izwan Abdullah.

According to a Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) representative, Deepa obtained a “recovery order”  from the Seremban High Court on May 21, requiring the police to track down the child snatched by her ex-husband Izwan Abdullah.

This recovery order was personally handed over to the police at the national headquarters Bukit Aman last Friday, the WAO advocacy officer Sally Wangsawijaya said.

“We were informed by the police yesterday that they are checking with the AG in regard to the conflicting jurisdiction before they can take any action.

“We are really hoping that the police will do anything they can to enforce this order as soon as possible,” Sally told reporters at the WAO's office here.

Deepa’s lawyer Joanne Leong confirmed that the police's only reply to the recovery order was that they were still checking with the government's lawyers.

The police did not provide a timeline on when they would obtain the AGC's advice, WAO said.

In a rare public appearance, Deepa today said she has not seen her six-year-old son for the past 50 days since he was forcibly taken away by Izwan on April 9.

Meera Samanther, executive committee member of WAO, described this situation as “ridiculous” and an “embarrassment”.

“We were informed by the police that the matter is now in the hands of the AGC, who wants to research on the area of conflicting jurisdiction. How long do we need to research? Since Shamala in 2004, we have been researching,” the past president of WAO said, referring to another child custody case involving religious conversion.

Deepa won full custody of her two children in the civil courts in April 7, while her former husband who previously used the name Viran Nagapan before his 2012 conversion to Islam has defended his actions by pointing to a Shariah court order last year.

Last year, the Shariah court granted Izwan custody of his two children, whom he had converted to Islam without telling his wife.

The recovery order made available to the media states that the Inspector-General of Police , Police Commissioner or the Chief Police Officer  should order police officers to “carry out this order regardless of any similar orders from any Shariah courts to give the child custody right to Izwan.”

The May 21 court order also empowers police officers to use “reasonable force.”

The order also empowers Deepa to remove Mithran from Izwan or anyone else's care, while Izwan was ordered to “immediately” return the child.

On Tuesday, another lawyer representing Deepa, K. Shanmuga, confirmed that the recovery order had been served on Izwan's lawyers.

At the time of writing, police could not be reached  for comment.