Buddhist man gets sole custody

Appeals Court decides on guardianship of converted children

KUALA LUMPUR: The Court of Appeal has given a Buddhist man the sole guardianship of his children who were unilaterally converted by his former wife.

The order was made by Justices Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Mary Lim Thiam Suan.

Justice Tengku Maimun, who chaired the panel, granted the businessman’s appeal on Thursday to reverse the Shah Alam High Court’s ruling which gave custody to their Muslim convert mother.

The 42-year-old mother convert- ed to Islam in December 2015 and obtained custody of the two children in April this year.

She converted the children, then aged four and eight, on May 11, 2016, without the father’s knowledge and consent.

Lawyer Honey Tan Lay Ean, who represented the father, said the Court of Appeal was of the view that the behaviour of the respondent (the ex-wife) in unilaterally converting the children to Islam and that the action itself was not done in the best interests of the children.

The panel, she said, held that there were merits in the appeal.

She said it was a brave and right decision for the panel to grant sole guardianship, custody, care and control of the currently Muslim children, now aged five and 10, to a Buddhist father.

“It bore in mind the key principle of best interests of the children in doing so,” Tan said.

She said the court also instructed that the RM30,000 cost paid by the businessman at the High Court be returned.

The father filed a judicial review application challenging the conversion at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. The court is expected to give its decision on Oct 16.

In his application filed on June 14, 2016, the businessman father named the director-general of Jawi ( Federal Territories Religious Department), Federal Territories Registrar of Muallaf, the director-general of the Education Ministry, the Federal Government and the mother as respondents.

He applied for leave to initiate a judicial review to quash the conversion of his then four-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter.

The Buddhist father is also seeking an injunction to stop the respondents and each one of them from registering or causing to be registered any change of the children’s religion to Islam.

He wants an order to revoke documents that are in the possession of the Registrar of Muallaf or Education Ministry.

Alternatively, he is seeking a declaration that the certificate of conversions is null and void.

The names of the parents and the children were withheld by the court.

It bore in mind the key principle of best interests of the children.

Honey Tan Lay Ean