PUTRAJAYA, July 30 — The Court of Appeal has fixed November 7 for hearing of the appeal by Sidang Borneo (SIB) Church on discovery of documents pertaining to the Cabinet’s decision in 1986 which prohibited the use of the word “Allah” in non-Muslim publications.
Lawyer Tan Hooi Ping appearing for the church and its president Datuk Jerry WA Dusing @ Jerry W. Patel said the court also set Oct 22 for case management for parties to inform the court on any possible settlement of the case.
The appeal was initially scheduled for hearing today but switched to a case management before deputy registrar Aina Azahra Arifin.
Tan said that she informed the court that parties in the appeal were engaging in an on-going discussion for a possible settlement of the matter.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the Home Ministry and the government, told reporters that he did not object to the church’s request for a postponement of the hearing following the church’s representation to settle the case.
On Oct 16, last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the church’s application for the documents, ruling that the documents were classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and could not be released.
The church and Dusing had filed a judicial review bid on Dec 10, 2007 against the Home Ministry and the government over their right to use the word “Allah” to refer to God in their religious publications.
The application was also filed to challenge the decision of the Royal Malaysian Customs to seize religious books brought in from Surabaya, Indonesia, which contained the word Allah, at the low cost carrier terminal in Sepang on Aug 15, 2007.
They are seeking a declaration that they have a constitutional right to use the word Allah in their Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia-translated Christian bibles and in all their religious publications and materials. — Bernama
