Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, who is leading a five-man bench, then adjourned proceedings to allow lawyer Hatim Musa to get in touch with Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.
“We will decide whether to allow you (Hatim) to represent him (Riduan) should he stay away from court,” Zulkelfi said.
Earlier, Indira’s lawyer M Kulasegaran raised a preliminary objection whether Hatim could represent Riduan, previously know as K Pathmanathan, who has been in contempt of a 2014 High Court order.
Judge Lee Swee Seng had also ordered the Inspector-General of Police to locate Riduan and Prasana Diksa, now 8. The Federal Court in April upheld Lee’s decision.
The police also did not execute the directive although Kulasegaran told reporters later that the order was served on the police in Bukit Aman last month.
Hatim also explained to the bench, also consisting of Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, Federal Court judges Abu Samah Nordin, Ramly Ali and Zainun Ali, that he had been in contact with Riduan through third parties.
However, he told reporters later, Riduan had many counsel whom he was in contact with.
Indira said she last met Prasana Diksa and Riduan in 2010 during a proceeding to obtain custody of her three children, the other being Tevi Darsiny and Karan Dinish.
The kindergarten teacher, who is challenging the unilateral conversion of the children, wants the civil court to rule that their conversion certificates were null and void.
Lee, in July 2013, had ruled in Indira’s favour.
In December, the majority Court of Appeal ruling held that the validity of the conversion by Riduan could only be determined by the shariah court. Justices Balia Yusof Wahi and Badariah Sahamid said the civil court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the conversion.
However, Judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, in his dissenting judgment, said the conversion was purely an administrative matter and the civil court could inquire into the matter.
Tevi Darsiny, 19, and Karan Dinish, 18, are in Indira’s care.
In 2009, Riduan snatched Prasana, then aged 11 months, before unilaterally converting the children in their absence.
Indira subsequently won full custody of her children in the High Court on March 11, 2010.