One of M Indira Ghandi’s lawyers has taken Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to task for his statement that police will take the middle route in cases of interfaith custody battles.

A Sivanesan, who is also Sungkai assemblyperson, said the police's stand violated the law.

"The police are taking law into their hands... In this (Indira's) case, the court order is already there but the police are not acting on it," Sivanesan added.

This followed Khalid's statement that police will not follow orders from either the syariah or civil court in interfaith custody disputes.

The police chief said the children will instead be placed in a child care centre in order to be fair to both parents.

Khalid argued that this would allow both parents to visit the children.

Disagreeing, Sivanesan ( right ) stressed that in cases involving custody, police must comply with the court order.

"Once a complaint has been lodged, the duty of the police is only to investigate, and they have to hand over (their investigation papers) to the attorney-general," he told Malaysiakini .

Also seeing red is MCA Wanita chief Heng Seai Kie, who said that the IGP's job is not to play adjudicator but to imeplement the law.

"It is not up to the IGP to take the law into his own hands! If this is the case, then why bother even having a judiciary?" Heng asked.

She also asked if Khalid was taking this stance since he is Muslim and is prioritising his faith before the law.

Heng ( left ) added that it is not up to the police, but the Social Welfare Department to determine if a child is placed in a welfare home, and only on grounds that there are no relatives to care for the child.

"If this is the type of example the IGP is setting whereby the police are openly declaring that they will act against both the civil courts’ rulings, can you blame the public for their eroding confidence in the police and legislation?" she asked.

On May 30, the Ipoh High Court cited Indira's ex-husband K Pathmanathan @ Muhammad Ridhuan Abdullah for failure to abide by a 2010 ruling.

The court in 2010 granted custody of the child, who now resides in Kota Baru with her father, to Indira.

Ridhuan, a Muslim convert, refused to return the child to Indira last week despite being cited for contempt, claiming it was "too short notice" .

IGP to take 'middle path' in custody battles