The Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court of Appeal today upheld the order for Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib to pay his ex-wife Shahnaz A Majid an RM30 million mutaah (conciliatory gift following divorce).

Judge Saarani Ismail said there was no error in the Syariah High Court judgment of 2016, and ordered that the son of Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud pay the sum in full.

"An appellate court would not intervene in the Syariah High Court judgment unless there is an error made.

"We find there is no error in the judgment and hence the quantum is maintained. The appeal by Mahmud and the cross-appeal by Shahnaz are hereby dismissed," Saarani said.

In upholding the Syariah High Court judgment, she pointed out that Mahmud is worth in excess of RM1.1 billion, and he is therefore more than capable of paying the amount.

The court also noted that Shahnaz was left "gantung tak bertali" (abandoned) but not divorced for 10 years, and that the US graduate with an MBA had left her job to help run her ex-husband's business.

Saarani sat with Mohd Naim Mokhtar on the Syariah Court of Appeal bench. Lead judge Yusof Musa has retired.

Cross-appeal dismissed

Shahnaz, the elder sister of jazz queen Sheila Majid, was seeking to have the quantum of the mutaah increased to RM100 million through her cross-appeal.

The quantum of RM30 million for mutaah is said to be the highest in syariah history.

Bekir and Shahnaz were married on Jan 9, 1992, but began to live separately seven years later. They were officially divorced on May 11, 2011. They have a 25-year-old son.

In 2016, Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court judge Mohamad Abdul Karim Wahab ordered Mahmud to pay the RM30 million mutaah to his ex-wife.

Today, Shahnaz's lawyers, Rafie Mohd Shafie and Akberdin Abdul Kader, applied for the RM30 million to be paid in one lump sum, which was objected to by Bekir's lawyer Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar.

After a short break, Saarani announced that the mutaah can be paid in three ways: in a lump sum by Oct 31 this year; RM10 million by Oct 31 this year and RM20 million by Jan 31, 2019; or three staggered payments of RM10 million by Oct 31 this year, Jan 31 and April 30, 2019.

Zainul Rijal then said his client respected and will abide by the court's decision.

At the end of this year or early next year, the Syariah High Court will hear Shahnaz's 'harta sepencarian' (joint matrimonial assets) claim of RM500 million.