Lawyer Nizam Bashir, who represents the child’s parents, said the rehearing is scheduled in line with the Federal Court’s policy decision to have an enlarged bench to hear constitutional and public interest cases.

He said this to reporters today after case management before a deputy court registrar.

On July 12, newly appointed Chief Justice Richard Malanjum proposed forming a nine-member bench for constitutional cases and a seven-member panel for public interest cases.

He also proposed that the four senior most judges would be on the panel, with the others chosen by ballot.

The Courts of Judicature Act 1964 empowers only the CJ to select the panel judges.

On Feb 7, the then chief justice Raus Sharif chaired a five-member bench to hear the case, and reserved judgment after submissions from the lawyers.

Malanjum replaced Raus on July 11.

Other judges on the panel were Ahmad Maarop, Hasan Lah, Balia Yusof Wahi and Aziah Ali.

In this case, the child was born less than six months after the parents were married, which is deemed illegitimate under Shariah law.

The child’s birth was registered two years later in 2011 under Section 12 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 (BDRA).

Both parents, from Johor, applied to the National Registration Department (NRD) to register the father’s name on the birth certificate under Section 13 of the BDRA but it carried the “bin Abdullah” instead.

The NRD refused to substitute it with the father’s name, despite an application made to remove the “bin Abdullah”, on the grounds that the child was illegitimate.

This resulted in the parents, whose identity is being withheld, filing an application for a judicial review in the High Court in 2016.

The couple lost their case in the High Court but the Court of Appeal last year reversed the decision.

Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli, who delivered the judgment, said the NRD director-general’s jurisdiction was a civil one and was confined to determining whether the child’s parents had fulfilled the requirements under the BDRA.

He said the BDRA, being a federal law, covered all illegitimate Muslim or non-Muslim children.

At today’s proceeding, senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob represented the NRD and Johor Islamic Religious Council while counsel Halimatunsa’diah Abu Ahmad appeared for the Selangor and Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Religious Councils.

Bin Abdullah issue: NRD can rely on fatwa, lawyer argues in Federal Court

NRD has no right to add ‘Abdullah’ to Muslim illegitimate child, says court