Justice Zabariah Yusof, who chaired a three-judge panel, said the court was not persuaded that the woman had shown the presence of exceptional circumstances to warrant the review.

“The applicant’s lawyer argued that the previous panel did not give parties in the proceedings the chance to address points about religious freedom and the definition of ‘Muslim’ under the Federal Territories’ Administration of Islamic Law Act.

“The records and judgment showed the panel deliberated the points and supported them with case laws,” she said.

Also on the panel hearing the application were Justices Rhodzariah Bujang and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

The court made no order for costs.

In a majority decision last year, another apex court panel dismissed the woman’s appeal to challenge her religious status.

The woman said that decision should be reviewed on the grounds that it was “rendered in excess of jurisdiction and violated natural justice”.

The woman, who originally professed the Hindu faith, was still a child when she was unilaterally converted to Islam by her mother at the Selangor Islamic religious department’s office in 1991.

The conversion took place while her parents were in the midst of a divorce, which was finalised in 1992. Her mother went on to marry a Muslim man in 1993, while her father died in an accident three years later.

The woman, born in 1986, contended that despite her conversion to Islam, her mother and stepfather allowed her to continue practising the Hindu faith, which she had been born into.

The woman was represented by lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Surendra Ananth, while Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Majdah Muda appeared for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council.

State legal adviser Salim Soib @ Hamid appeared for the Selangor government, which was named as a co-respondent.