KETUA PENGARAH JABATAN PENDAFTARAN NEGARA v 1. ) NIVETHAH A/P THAMAYANDIRAN 2. ) SWETHA A/P THAMAYANDIRAN

Case Significance

Confirms that where a claimant is a Muslim by birth under the Selangor Enactment, a claim to non-Muslim status is a renunciation matter for the Syariah High Court, and that Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution ousts the civil courts' jurisdiction, with registration records to follow the competent forum's determination.

This Court of Appeal decision was heard together with a related appeal and concerns the jurisdiction of the civil courts over a claim about the religious status of two respondents. The respondents had applied in the civil High Court for a declaration that they were never Muslims, a claim that also touched on the records held by the national registration authority; this appeal was brought by the Director-General of the National Registration Department. The overarching question was whether the definition of a Muslim in the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 — under section 2(1)(b), a person is a Muslim at birth if either parent is a Muslim — applied to the respondents, and, depending on the answer, which forum had jurisdiction over their claim. The Court of Appeal concluded that, on the evidence, the respondents were already Muslims by virtue of section 2(1)(b), having been born as Muslims. Their claim that they were never Muslims therefore had to be understood as a claim that they are no longer Muslims, making it a renunciation case rather than an ab initio case. In light of Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, which removes from the civil courts jurisdiction over matters within the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts, the determination of whether a person is no longer a Muslim lies with the Selangor Syariah High Court under section 61(3)(b)(x) of the Enactment. The civil High Court's contrary ruling, that section 2(1)(b) did not apply, was flawed, and the consequential relief it had granted, including any bearing on the correction of registration records, could not stand. The Court allowed the appeal accordingly, the registration authority's position being governed by the correct forum's determination of religious status. The registration of a person's religion in the national records thus follows, rather than displaces, the determination of status by the court that has jurisdiction to make it.