Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd, which runs the Borders book store, has obtained an interim stay of proceedings brought against the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) in the Syariah High Court.

The unanimous decision was made today in the Court of Appeal by Justices Abdul Malik Ishak, Azahar Mohamed and  Balia Yusof.

The Syariah High Court had been scheduled to hear the proceedings tomorrow.

NONE On July 31, the Kuala Lumpur High Court (Appellate and Special Powers Division) had declined to rule on the company’s application to stay Syariah Court proceedings against store manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz, pending the disposal of a judicial review.

Berjaya Books was represented by Rosli Dahlan and Ang Hean Leng.

The appellants (Borders) filed the judicial review in view of Jawi's action of charging Nik Raina for distributing Irshad Manji's book 'Allah, Love and Liberty'.

They cited a constitutional issue on whether Section 13 of the Federal Territory Syariah Offences Act is constitutional under Article 121 (1) (a) regarding the division of the Syariah and civil courts.

This follows the banning of the book by the Home Ministry and in this case the seizure was made six days before the ministry gazetted its ban.