Parties to a dispute over the demolition of a church in Gua Musang, Kelantan, have been given a month each to provide written submissions to the Kota Baru High Court.

Temiar Orang Asli villagers are suing the Gua Musang District Council head, the Gua Musang Assistant Land and District Officer and the PAS-led state government over the demolition of their church on June 4 last year.

According to Lum Chee Seng, a lawyer for the villagers, Justice Mohd Azman Husin issued the order this morning after deliberations in chambers.

Lum and N Subramaniyan - who are representing Kampung Jias village head Pedik Busu and three other plaintiffs - will have to deliver their submission next month, followed a month later by lawyers for the respondents.

The court has fixed May 26 for the hearing.

The villagers - who were baptised around February last year - contend that the land on which the church had stood had been in Pedik’s family for generations. Their legal action follows the failure of the authorities to keep a pledge to rebuild the structure.

In their suit, they have applied for declarations that they have a right over the land as well as the constitutional right to practise their religion, which includes the right to set up a church on the land.

They are also seeking a declaration that the issuance of notices against Pedik and the other villagers by the Gua Musang District Council head and Assistant Land and District Officer was unlawful.

The plaintiffs further want a declaration that the demolition was unlawful and that it was an act of trespass on Pedik’s property, an “abuse of power” and amounting to intervening in the religious rights of the Orang Asli. They also filed for damages and other costs.

The authorities have built a multipurpose hall on the site of the former church, but this has been rejected by the villagers.

In their defence, the Gua Musang authorities cited the application of Section 425 of the National Land Code and Section 72 of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974, both of which pertain to structures built without the permission of the authorities.