Zairil Khir Johari (DAP-Bukit Bendera) told the Dewan Rakyat that the Federal Court should be given powers to have the final say and this could be done even without amending Article 121 (1) (a) of the Federal Constitution.

“Amend the Court of Judicature Act. Define the jurisdiction of the Federal Court so that it has more powers than the High Court,” Zairil said, referring to the M Indira Gandhi child custody and unilateral conversion case.

In Indira’s case, her husband converted and had, without her consent, converted their children to Islam.

The High Court ruled that she could not claim remedy there and said the case should instead be dealt with in the Syariah Court. This, however, proved to be impossible as she herself is not a Muslim.

Zairil, in making his argument, pointed out that Article 128 (1) and (2) of the Federal Constitution stated that the Federal Court had powers over state laws such as syariah.

R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) backed Zairil’s proposal and said the government should make it compulsory for religious departments to obtain both parents’ consent before allowing a child to be converted.

He also said the High Court had been silent on the status of the converted child despite ruling that civil courts had jurisdiction over cases of divorce involving Muslim and non-Muslim spouses.