THE Court of Appeal today granted single mother Loh Siew Hong’s appeal and set aside a High Court ruling and declared as unconstitutional the unilateral conversion of her three minor children to Islam in Perlis.

Free Malaysia Today reported that a three-member bench chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail held that the conversions were ultra vires the Federal Constitution.

Hadhariah said the High Court judge had misdirected himself and committed an error of law.

“The High Court erred by not following a 2018 Federal Court ruling in the case of Indira Gandhi.

“We are bound by the Indira Gandhi ruling. In this case, the mother did not consent to the conversion of the children to Islam,” she said.

The Court of Appeal also dismissed a provision in the Perlis enactment that allows unilateral conversion as it went against article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.

Also on the bench were Justices Hashim Hamzah and Azhahari Kamal Ramli.

Lawyers A. Srimurugan, J. Gunamalar, Shamsher Singh Thind, and Thian Yee Chin appeared for Loh.

Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla represented MAIPs, while Perlis state legal adviser Radhi Abas appeared for the state.

Haniff told reporters that he had instructions to file an appeal to the Federal Court.

In August 2022 the High Court allowed an application for a judicial review by Loh to challenge the action by her ex-husband, M. Nagahswaran, in registering their three children as Muslim converts without her consent.

The single mother sought a declaration that her three children are Hindus and that her ex-husband did not have the legal capacity to allow the Perlis Registrar of Converts to register the children without her consent.

The three children, who were then under the care of the Social Welfare Department, were released to Loh last year after the High Court allowed her habeas corpus application. – January 10, 2024.