Govt should give reasoning behind ‘Allah’ word ban, court told

KUALALUMPUR: The Government must reveal its reasoning for banning the word “Allah” in non-Islam publications for the court to have the whole picture when considering whether or not to lift the ban, says Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB).

In a discovery application to the High Court here, SIB’s lead counsel Lim Heng Seng said there were questions which could only be answered by those documents, which were essential for the court to consider.

“In our application, we are asking for all letters, research papers and memorandum which form a basis that the use of the word ‘Allah’ would cause confusion and be a threat to public order,” Lim said.

The application was part of the church’s ongoing judicial review to challenge the Home Ministry’s ban and to legally use the word “Allah” in its publications.

Lim said if the documents were not released, they would go ahead with the main hearing and argue that the Home Ministry’s Publications Control Division provided no material reasoning in issuing the ban through a 1986 circular.

Acknowledging that the information might be shielded under the Official Secrets Act 1972, Lim said that under the Evidence Act 1950, documents could be produced in court if the disclosure would not prejudice the public.

In reply, Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan argued that SIB’s application must be confined to the decision made by the minister and the court cannot go behind the minister’s decision.

“It is apparent that this application cannot be granted since it is merely a fishing expedition and only to rectify the applicant’s evidence. The real dispute involves questions of law,” he said.

Justice Nor Bee Ariffin deferred her decision to a date to be fixed.

In their application for leave, filed on Dec 10, 2007, SIB and its Sabah president Reverend Datuk Jerry Dusing named the then Internal Security Minister and the Government as respondents.

They filed the application after the Customs authorities at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang seized their religious publications for children on Aug 15, 2007.

They sought declarations on the constitutional right to use the word “Allah” .