Speaking to FMT, its chief Mohana Muniandy also thanked the Federal Court for resolving the dispute according to the law, by referring marriage and custody matters to the civil courts.

Earlier today, the Federal Court ruled that civil courts had the right to decide on the custody of children converted to Islam, in a dispute between clerk S Deepa and her Muslim convert ex-husband, Izwan Abdullah

The apex court also granted Izwan custody of their eight-year-old son, while Deepa got custody of their 10-year-old daughter after the judges interviewed the children.

Mohana said the court’s decision today offered some respite following the decision made by the Court of Appeal in the Indira Gandhi custody case after her husband also unilaterally converted the children to Islam.

In December, the Court of Appeal decided to overturn the High Court’s ruling that the conversion of Indira’s three children, all minors, to Islam was invalid. It held that issues regarding Muslim conversion were exclusively the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court. Indira is appealing the case.

“Good to know, in Deepa’s case, there is some hope for those mothers who might be in a similar position.

“We hope that in future, cases involving interfaith custody battles will see such an approach emulated,” she said, adding the party was still looking forward to a resolution on unilateral conversions.

Mohana also thanked the Attorney-General’s Chambers for acting as interveners in the case.

Meanwhile, MIC Youth chief Sivarraajh Chandran said the decision brought about clarity to a grey area in Malaysian law.

“I applaud and thank the bench on behalf of my fellow Malaysians,” he said, adding all non-Muslim marriages and divorce matters clearly came under the jurisdiction and purview of civil courts and not the syariah court.

Sivarraajh said he hoped both parents would accept the verdict positively, move on and focus on raising their children.

He also said that with both parents granted access to their children, the verdict could be used as a precedent in Indira’s case, which seemed to be engulfed in ambiguity and confusion.