Today was the Court of Appeal’s hearing of Raguram’s Hindu widow and two young children’s appeal, where they are seeking court orders to quash the Shariah court’s decision for his reburial and to prevent Mais from enforcing the Shariah court order — which would include exhuming the body for reburial. — Picture by Yusof Mat IsaKUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — A Shariah court in Selangor did not have the powers to issue a court order for the reburial of school teacher B.
Mais via a May 20, 2020 letter sought to have the Hindu wife appear in the Shariah court to testify on May 21, 2020, but she said she was unable to attend on that day. Shanmuga acknowledged that there were disputed facts in this case, as Raguram’s widow said he had converted under duress and that there are affidavits or sworn testimonies from his colleagues and friends to say he continued to live as a Hindu, while Mais produced affidavits to say that he had appeared to live as a Muslim at his workplace.
“And in any event, my client ought not to be a witness. My client has to be a party in any dispute involving any determining of the religion of the husband. Shanmuga also highlighted that the same Selangor state law’s Section 74 prohibits the Shariah court from making any order that involves the “right or property” of non-Muslims, adding that declaring whether a person was Muslim or not at the time of his death would involve the right of his next of kin.
“So I respectfully submit on that ground alone, the Shariah court order ought to be quashed,” he said. The two other judges on the Court of Appeal’s panel today are Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Choo Kah Sing.