In a unanimous decision, a three-member apex court panel rejected an application for leave to challenge a ruling handed down by the Court of Appeal in favour of single mother Loh Siew Hong in January this year.

Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the ruling in M Indira Gandhi’s case, handed down by a five-member apex court bench, was good law.

“There is no reason to revisit the case,” said the top judge.

Also on the panel hearing the appeal were Justices Nallini Pathmanathan and Abu Bakar Jais.

Today’s verdict also meant that the Court of Appeal ruling on Jan 10 which annulled a provision in the Perlis state enactment allowing unilateral conversions has been upheld as violating Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.

Article 12(4) provides that the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian.

In her oral ruling, Tengku Maimun noted that MAIPs, the registrar of converts, state mufti Asri Zainul Abidin and the Perlis state government were attempting to revisit Indira’s case.

She said the term “parent” in the English text of the Federal Constitution meant that both parents must consent to the conversion of a minor to Islam.

“Indira’s (case) was not decided per incuriam (wrongly),” Tengku Maimun said, adding that the Federal Court ruling applied throughout the nation.

She said there was also no evidence that the Bahasa Melayu version of the constitution had been prescribed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the official text.

“The counsel for the applicants did not address this issue,” she said, ordering the parties to bear their costs.

The applicants took the common position that if the Bahasa Melayu version was adopted, either parent could convert their underage children without the consent of the other.

MAIPs also said the legal precedent established by Indira only applied to the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

The Court of Appeal had allowed Loh’s appeal and set aside a High Court ruling that declared the unilateral conversion of her three minor children to Islam in Perlis four years ago constitutional.

Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail, who chaired the Court of Appeal hearing alongside Justices Hashim Hamzah and Azhahari Kamal Ramli, said the High Court judge had misdirected himself by not following the legal principle established in Indira’s case.

Loh’s children were unilaterally converted to Islam by her former husband Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy in Perlis in 2020.

Loh took the matter to court, seeking a declaration that a provision in the state enactment allowing a parent to unilaterally convert minor children was unconstitutional.

She also sought a declaration that her twin daughters, now aged 16, and son, aged 13, were still Hindus.

The High Court dismissed Loh’s judicial review application in May 2023, saying there was no evidence that the three children had stopped professing Islam after she gained custody of them.

In his ruling, Justice Wan Farid Wan Salleh also said the Perlis state registrar of converts was satisfied that the legal requirements of Section 107(1) of a 2006 Perlis state enactment had been adhered to, and that the children had professed the shahadah proclamation voluntarily.

Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla appeared for MAIPs, while Perlis state legal adviser Radhi Abas represented the other respondents together with his assistant, Ainul Wardah Shahidan.

Lawyers A Srimurugan, Shamsher Singh Tind and J Gunamala represented Loh, who was present in court.