However, lawyer Annou Xavier, representing Sarawakian Jill Ireland, said the Selangor and federal territories (FT) religious councils are still making bids to be parties in the appeal at the Court of Appeal.
At the High Court, the FT religious council was allowed to be amicus curiae (friend of court) in assisting the court during the proceedings.
Xavier said he was made aware of the latest stance following a case management before registrar Radzilawatee Abdul Rahman yesterday.
Meanwhile, FMT understands that the attorney-general’s chambers (AGC), which is appearing for the government and the home ministry, will file its record and memorandum of appeal before a hearing date is fixed.
The AGC is expected to outline where trial judge Nor Bee Ariffin had erred in law and facts.
The court has fixed Nov 12 for another case management.
Earlier this year, the High Court ruled in favour of Ireland, saying that a Dec 5, 1986, home ministry directive to prohibit the use of the words “Allah”, “Baituallah”, “Solat” and “Kaabah” by non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional.
Nor Bee said Ireland had the constitutional right to use and import any publications for her religious education.
In 2008, Customs officers at KLIA seized eight CDs from Ireland titled “Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah”, “Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” and “Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah”.
Initially, she filed the action to reclaim the CDs, seeking several declaratory reliefs as well.
In 2014, the High Court ordered the home ministry to return the CDs to her but did not address the constitutional points as it was bound by a Federal Court ruling.
The following year, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court ruling but ordered it to hear Ireland’s application for a declaration that her constitutional right to practise her religion was violated by the restriction or ban on the import of educational material.
Nor Bee said it could not be disputed that the ban affected Christians in Sabah and Sarawak as they have been using the word “Allah” in place of “God” for a long time.
“The usage had not caused a threat to public order and national security,” she said, adding that the Christian community in both states had been using the word for about 400 years.