Ex-MP Maria Chin fails in challenge to shariah show-cause order
Ex-Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah was sentenced by the shariah court to seven days' jail for contempt of court on April 25, 2022.
PUTRAJAYA : The Federal Court has unanimously denied former Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah leave to appeal in her bid to challenge a show-cause order issued by the shariah court for alleged contempt.
Justice Nordin Hassan said Maria had failed to show the existence of a novel issue warranting a hearing of her appeal.
'The issue of the jurisdiction of the shariah and civil courts was made clear in previous cases, including a recent one on a woman's challenge against her religious status,' he said.
Also on the panel hearing the application were Justices Abu Jais Bakar and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera. The court made no order in respect of costs.
In her bid to initiate a judicial review, Maria had asked the High Court to quash a shariah court order handed down on Oct 14, 2019 allowing businessman SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin leave to initiate contempt proceedings against her.
She claimed the order was made in bad faith.
The order was made in respect of a press statement Maria issued on Sept 5, 2019, in which she claimed that 'Muslim women are still being discriminated (against) under Malaysia's shariah legal system'.
She said the shariah court's decision to sentence Faisal's former wife, Emilia Hanafi, to seven days in prison for rescheduling his visitation dates with their children was a 'grave injustice' and a 'total disgrace to the judicial system'.
The shariah high court sentenced Maria to seven days' jail for contempt of court on April 25, 2022.
In the underlying proceedings, the High Court granted Maria leave to challenge the show-cause order, but the Court of Appeal reversed that decision last year.
The appeals court ruled that the civil courts have no jurisdiction to hear matters from the shariah court.
Maria was represented by lawyers Bahari Yeow and Rosli Dahlan while senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly appeared for the government.
Lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kader, who held a watching brief for Faisal today, later said Maria would have to go back to the shariah appeals court for her appeal against the seven-day sentence.
Religious affairs minister Na'im Mokhtar meanwhile urged the public to respect the court's decision, and the shariah court as a legitimate and sovereign judicial institution.
'I must emphasise that any attempt to make room for civil court interference in shariah court decisions not only goes against the spirit of the constitution, but also jeopardises the stability of the dual legal system that is a hallmark of the Malaysian judiciary,' he said in a Facebook post.
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