Loh’s lawyer, Gunamalar Joorindanjn, said Peters informed the parties of her decision during an online case management today.
“She informed us that her recusal will be notified to the managing judge (in charge of civil courts in Kuala Lumpur),” Gunamalar told FMT.
The Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs) sent a letter to the judge two weeks ago, seeking to disqualify her from hearing the matter.
Bernama said according to a copy of the letter dated March 20, the state Islamic body was seeking Peters’ recusal as she was the judge who on June 15 last year had dismissed MAIPs’ application to intervene after finding that MAIPs had failed to show it was an interested party in relation to the children.
However, on Feb 7 this year, the Court of Appeal quashed this ruling and allowed MAIPs to intervene in Loh’s divorce proceedings, paving the way for the council to then apply to vary the custodial order over the three children.
Through the letter, MAIPs claimed that the judge had erred in her ruling by touching on the merits of the issue of the children’s religious status and the application to vary the custodial order.
MAIPs alleged that this state of affairs required a different judge to hear the application.
However, Peters will hear Loh’s application to stay the variation proceeding pending the outcome of her application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court scheduled on July 6.
Loh had gone to the apex court after the Court of Appeal allowed MAIPs to intervene in the application to vary a custody order on Feb 7.
On June 15, Peters dismissed MAIPs application to obtain leave to become an intervener.
Gunamalar said Peters had fixed a case management on April 19 to deal with the stay application.
“On that day, we will also know who will be the new judge to hear the variation order matter,” she said.
Lawyers Haniff Khatri and Danial Farhan represented MAIPs.
Loh’s former husband, Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, is said to have taken the children to Perlis, where he unilaterally converted them to Islam on July 7, 2020.
The 15-year-old twin girls and an 11-year-old son were placed under the care and control of preacher Nazirah Nanthakumari Abdullah.
On March 31, 2020, the High Court granted Loh full custody of the children, and her divorce from Nagahswaran was finalised on Sept 23, 2021.
Loh also took out a habeas corpus application in the High Court, which was allowed by Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah in February last year.
That decision paved the way for a reunion between the mother and her children.
In March 2022, Loh filed a judicial review application to challenge the children’s unilateral conversion, and the High Court in Kuala Lumpur will deliver its ruling on May 11.