PUTRAJAYA, Sept 25 — The Court of Appeal today allowed appeals by the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) and the government to strike out a man’s suit challenging his religious status.
The three-judge panel comprising Justices Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril, Datuk Faizah Jamaludin and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid ruled that Shehzad Malik Muhammad Sarwar Malik’s case was a renunciation case and the relief he is seeking could only be granted by the Syariah Court.
“The respondent (Shehzad Malik) here cannot come to the Civil Court as the Civil Court has no jurisdiction to grant the orders,” said Justice Mohd Firuz, who delivered the unanimous decision.
He further said the court took the view that the respondent was legally identified as a person professing the religion of Islam, and the fact that he might not believe in the Islamic faith and did not practise Islamic teaching was irrelevant.
Earlier, the panel dismissed a preliminary objection raised by Shehzad Malik’s counsel contending that the appeals brought by MAIWP and the government were not proper before the court and should be struck out.
Justice Mohd Firuz held that the appeals are competent.
Shedzad Malik filed the originating summons in December 2023, claiming that at the time of his birth in June 1996, his parents professed the religion of Islam, but his mother had raised him as a Sikh.
He said that after his mother died in 2007, he was raised by his uncle, who also professed and practised Sikhism.
He is seeking a court declaration that his religious status according to the National Registration Department’s record be “amended and corrected” to Sikh instead of Islam, and that his name be changed from Shehzad Malik bin Muhammad Sarwar Malik to Bilawal Singh Bhutter.
On Oct 24 last year, the High Court dismissed MAIWP and the government’s applications to strike out the originating summons, prompting them to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
During the proceedings, lawyers Ahmad Kamal Abu Bakar and Arik Zakri Abdul Kadir represented MAIWP while Senior Federal Counsel Husniyyah Hanapi appeared for the government. Lawyers Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal and Amanda Sonia Mathew represented Shedzad Malik. — Bernama
