SHAH ALAM, June 21 — The Selangor government will accede to the Sultan’s orders to settle the imbroglio stemming from its state Islamic religious authorities’ refusal to return over 300 bibles seized in January.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the state legal adviser will discuss with the Attorney-General (AG) how to proceed with the case, even though the public prosecutor has said he will not pursue charges against the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) for distribution of the Malay- and Iban language bibles containing the word “Allah”.

“The state legal adviser will receive the AG’s advice to proceed with what His Highness has said in his statement. This issue has to be decided in court,” Khalid told reporters here.

The mentri besar, the state secretary and the legal adviser had sought an audience with the state Ruler last Thursday concerning the religious storm but had kept mum until today.

“I have agreed for the state legal adviser to receive the AG’s advice to carry out His Highness’ orders,” Khalid said.

On Thursday, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s private secretary, Mohamad Munir Bani, said that the legal avenue would allow the matter to be resolved amicably and without perception of bias.

The state Ruler also insisted that he has not acted “above the law” in the matter.

This week, Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) claimed that the Selangor consented to their decision against returning over 300 bibles that the state’s religious authorities seized from a Christian group in January.

Mais and its enforcement unit, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), are seeking a court ruling to enable them to dispose of the Christian holy books.

The council has insisted that there are grounds to “prosecute” BSM under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, contrary to Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s decision not to press charges against the Christian bookstore.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak previously urged Mais to refer the matter to the AG if it believed the decision not to prosecute BSM should be reviewed, but insisted that Abdul Gani’s decision on the issue should prevail.

Jais seized the bibles during a raid on the BSM headquarters in the state on January 2, and has kept possession of the copies since then.