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Court overlooked husband’s infringements in Deepa custody case

We can interpret the decision of the Federal Court in the Deepa Subramaniam case in many different ways. Bar Council representative, Andrew Khoo, described it as a compromise.

The recent Court of Appeal decision on M Indira Gandhi’s case was very much in favour of the convert husband, even though Indira’s husband grabbed a (reportedly) breastfeeding 11-month-old child from her mother and converted the three children to Islam without the mother’s knowledge and without the children being there at all.

Similarly, Deepa’s husband took away his son by force while under the mother’s custody. Even if he is following a Syariah Court decision, he was defying a High Court order. Any implementation of a Court decision has a set of procedures which cannot include taking the law into his own hands. I am of the view that the Federal Court seems to have overlooked these infringements by Deepa’s husband.

The positive ruling by the Federal Court on Deepa’s case was the decision that only Civil Courts can decide on divorce and custody of the children, thus justifying the decisions of the High Courts so far. However, the Federal Court is seen to have in a way saved the inspector-general of police (IGP) who had not followed the High Court orders, interpreting the law his way.

Contradicting the Federal Court ruling that only the Civil Court can decide on divorce and child custody, it criticised the High Court Judge for the Serve Order directed to the IGP. I wonder which other nation gives their chief of police that much of liberty to decide as seen to be muddled up with this criticism on the High Court Order.

However, I sincerely hope that the cabinet’s decision, as claimed by a federal minister, that they intend to stop unilateral conversions when parents convert to Islam will be implemented soon. Further, the Federal Court needs to be more considerate to the plight of single mothers when the aggressive husbands are, in my opinion, seen to be getting away with disobeying High Court orders. There is a lack of compassion by our Courts.


A VAITHILINGAM is the former president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism.

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