Child conversion: Ruling may cause others to defy court order, MCA warned

The Appeal Courts judgement on Wednesday not to enforce a mandamus order on the Inspector General of Police, Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar in a child custody case may set a dangerous precedent where others would start defying court order, the MCA cautioned.

MCA Syariah law and policy implementation special task force secretary Loh Seng Kok said the 2-1 decision can lead civil servants or individuals to place themselves above the law.

“We are disappointed with the majority judgement of the Court of Appeal which has set aside the said mandamus order. We fear this judgement may or will encourage other civil servants or individuals to disregard any rulings by the civil court,” said Loh in a press statement.

MCA was one of the organisations which held a watching brief during the application for a committal order by M. Indira Gandhi against her ex-husband Mohd Ridhuan Abdullah or previously known as K. Pathmanathan.

On Wednesday, the Appeals Court ruled that Khalid cannot be compelled to recover Indira's six-year-old daughter from Mohd Ridhuan who converted to Islam.

The Court ruled that mandamus order cannot be enforced in a civil dispute and said that even without the police, Indira can still hire a court bailiff to recover her daughter, Prasana Diksa.

The Ipoh Syariah High Court had in Sept 2009, granted custody of Indira and Mohd Ridhuan’s three children the father.

Mohd Ridhuan had earlier converted the children. Prasana, then 11 months’ old, Tevi Darsiny, then 12, and Karan Dinish, then 11, without the knowledge of Indira.

However, in 2010, the Ipoh High Court granted Indira full custody of all three children and ordered Mohd Ridhuan to return Prasana Diksa to the mother.

When he failed to return the child, the Ipoh High Court cited Mohd Ridhuan for contempt and issued a warrant of arrest against him.

Indira had also obtained a recovery order from the High Court to compel the police to locate Mohd Ridhuan.

However, Khalid in his defence said the police were unable to enforce court orders when the two courts gave conflicting orders.