PUTRAJAYA, Feb 27 — The appeal by National Registration Department (NRD) and two others in the “bin Abdullah” case has been set for further case management on March 21 with the government trying to resolve the matter by other means other than through the court.
Lawyer Nizam Bashir, representing a Muslim couple who is seeking to remove the “bin Abdullah” from their child’s birth certificate, said the government was trying to resolve the matter as the decision in the appeal would have a far-reaching implication on other similar cases in other states.
The matter came up for case management before deputy registrar Norhafizah Zainal Abidin in chambers today.
Nizam said there were also instructions for the matter to be reheard by a new Federal Court panel, but the Johor Islamic Religious Council objected to it.
He told reporters that the hearing of the appeal proper and the council’s objection was fixed on May 27.
Also present during the case management proceedings were senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob, representing the NRD, its director-general and the government; lawyer Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah, appearing for the Johor Islamic Religious Council and lawyer Halimatunsa’diah Abu Ahmad, for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS).
On November 22, last year, the Federal Court three-man bench led by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop deferred the verdict in the “bin Abdullah” case after senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh sought an adjournment of the delivery of the court’s decision.
Amarjeet informed the court that the government was of the view that the subject matter had far-reaching implications which required a solution by other means other than through court proceedings.
The NRD, its director-general and the government were appealing against the Court of Appeal decision in May 2017 which ruled that Muslim children who were conceived out of wedlock could take his or her father’s surname instead of carrying the patronymic surname of “bin Abdullah’ or “binti Abdullah”. — Bernama
