Chief Justice Richard Malanjum said it was thought earlier that Baliah Yusof Wahi would have retired, leaving only two from the original bench.
“During case management (on July 27), we thought there were only two judges to deliver the ruling,” he said.
However, it is learnt that Baliah has been given a six-month extension until March to remain in office.
Malanjum said judgment could now be delivered as at least three judges were available, as required under Section 78 (1) of the Courts of Judicature Act.
He added that Baliah, together with justices Ahmad Maarop and Aziah Ali, would deliver the ruling on a date yet to be fixed.
There were no objections to the three judges delivering their verdict.
A seven-member bench chaired by Malanjum had been scheduled to rehear the appeal as it was a public interest case.
On Feb 7, then-chief justice Raus Sharif chaired a five-member bench to hear the case and reserved judgment after submissions from the lawyers.
Raus has since resigned from office while another panel member, Hasan Lah, retired.
In the case in question, the child was born less than six months after the parents’ marriage, which is seen as 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).
The parents, both of whom are from Johor, applied to the National Registration Department (NRD) under Section 13 of the BDRA to have the father’s name on the birth certificate. However, the document carries the name “bin Abdullah” instead.
The NRD refused to replace this with the father’s name on grounds that the child was illegitimate, despite an application made.
The parents, whose identities have been withheld, filed an application for judicial review at the High Court in 2016.
They lost their case in the High Court, but the decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal last year.
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 children whether Muslim or non-Muslim.