KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 — The Court of Appeal today set March 29 for case management in regards to Sidang Injil Borneo’s (SIB) appeal on the decision by the High Court to reject the Sabah Church’s bid for discovery of government documents.

SIB’s lawyer Tan Hooi Ping said both parties today briefed the deputy registrar and said the appellants were still waiting for grounds from the High Court decision.

SIB Sabah had on December 2016 filed a discovery application to seek two sets of documents that would explain the government’s 1986 ban of the word "Allah” in Christian publications — including documents that could prove confusion among Malaysians or threat to public order over such use of the word "Allah”; and documents showing the government’s approval to import and own Christian publications with the word "Allah”.

SIB previously said the documents were necessary to help the courts decide on the church’s lawsuit, while the church’s lawyer Lim Heng Seng also highlighted the Home Ministry’s citing its original 1986 ban to justify the 2007 seizure of the church’s Christian education materials.

The High Court on October 16, 2017 however rejected the church’s bid for the discovery of the government information on the 1986 "Allah” word ban which it said was classified under the Official Secrets Act 1972, leading to SIB’s filing on November 14 an appeal against this decision.

The court case was sparked off by the August 15, 2007 seizure of SIB Sabah’s Sunday school materials at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal airport in Sepang, with the education materials for Christian children then returned on January 28, 2008 under the condition that the front page would be stamped with a "cross” sign and the words " Christian publication”.

The church and its president Rev Datuk Jerry Dusing are seeking a recognition of their rights — including a declaration that it is their constitutional right to use the word "Allah” in Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia translations of the bible and in religious materials to instruct their children in their religion, in line with the right to freedom of religion and right to education under the Federal Constitution’s Article 11 and Article 12.