'Dissenters keep alive Herald's right to use Allah'
If judicial opinions are a process of reasoning, then the finding of the three dissenting judges in the Herald ’s Federal Court leave application yesterday is that the weekly’s arguments had met the threshold for the raising of novel questions of law and public interest.
This is the argument of Catholic Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, who is the head of the head of the Malacca-Johor diocese.
If judicial opinions are a process of reasoning, then the finding of the three dissenting judges in the Herald ’s Federal Court leave application yesterday is that the weekly’s arguments had met the threshold for the raising of novel questions of law and public interest.
This is the argument of Catholic Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, who is the head of the head of the Malacca-Johor diocese.
Yesterday, a panel of the apex court, by a 4-3 decision, rejected the Catholic Church’s leave application to appeal the verdict of the Court of Appeal which barred the weekly Herald from using the Arabic term “Allah” for God.
“At the leave stage the threshold is only to demonstrate that there are novel questions of law and public importance which merit further consideration,” Bishop Paul asserted.
“Hence the opinions of the three dissenting judges in allowing leave are to be applauded as they recognise the right of the Church to file an appeal to the Federal Court to allow full arguments to be ventilated,” he expatiated.
“It is obvious these three judges recognise that the Church has passed the threshold in formulating the various questions of law which require further detailed submissions.”
Paul said the Church should avail itself of the next stage, which is to file for a review of the Federal Court’s rejection of the Herald ’s leave application.
“Another panel of apex court judges may well find in favour of the arguments adduced by the Herald,” he said.
Further, the bishop argued, yesterday’s decision of the Federal Court offered no justification for the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department’s refusal to return the copies of the Bible in the Malay and Iban languages that it seized the Bible Society of Malaysia.
“It is incumbent of Jais to return the copies of the Bible immediately,” Paul asserted.
He added that today’s announcement that Putrajaya was sticking to the 10-point agreement of 2011 between the government and Christian groups, whereby Christians can use the term ‘Allah’ in their church services, imposes an obligation on the authorities to compel Jais to return the holy books seized.
“It follows logically from the announcement that the government should do something to see that the seized items are returned to their rightful owners,” he argued.
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