A three-member bench, led by Justice Azizah Nawawi, unanimously granted the appeal by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to revoke the High Court’s decision last year.

Azizah said the man’s case centred on renouncing Islam, and that civil courts have no power to hear renunciation cases.

The other judges who sat with Azizah were Justices See Mee Chun and Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

The court made no order as to costs.

The 55-year-old man filed an application at the Shah Alam shariah high court in 2014 seeking to renounce Islam after divorcing his wife.

The shariah high court dismissed the application on Oct 7, 2019 and instead ordered him to go for “counselling”.

The man’s lawyers subsequently discharged themselves from acting for him, prompting him to represent himself in the case.

On Oct 17, within the 14-day period, he filed an appeal to the shariah appeals court but failed to serve it on the Selangor Islamic Religious Council or Mais within the prescribed period for service.

He explained to the shariah appeals court that he was unable to effect service on time as he was without lawyers and urged the court to grant him an extension to serve the notice.

His application was objected to by Mais and struck out by the shariah appeals court.

The man then filed for leave to commence judicial review proceedings in the High Court in a bid to challenge the shariah appeals court’s decision to dismiss his appeal without hearing him on the merits of his case.

In his application, which seeks to quash the shariah appeals court’s decision, he claimed the decision had infringed on his right to appeal and to practise the religion of his choice.

The man was represented by lawyer K Shanmuga while senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly and Imtiyaz Othman appeared for the attorney-general.