Child custody: Court's decision solved problems of conflicting orders - Dr Subramaniam

MIC President Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said with the ruling that the Civil Courts are solely empowered to dissolve civil marriages and deal with the custody, care and control of children born from such union, the "trap door" is shut.

"It is only the Civil Court that may deal with the issue of custody. This also puts to the rest the problem of conflicting court orders and the Police will now be able to enforce the civil court orders without reservation," the Health Minister said in a statement here Wednesday.

The Federal Court on Wednesday ruled that the Civil Court is the proper forum to decide on dissolution of marriages and custody of children in cases where one spouse has converted to Islam and the other remains a non-Muslim.

A five-man Federal Court chaired by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif delivered the ruling in the case involving a Hindu clerk, S. Deepa, and her former husband, lorry driver Izwan Abdullah, who had embraced Islam and subsequently converted their two children to Islam, allegedly without Deepa's approval.

The court granted custody of the eight-year-old son Nabil to the father and the 10-year-old daughter Nur Nabila to the mother.

Dr Subramaniam said in almost all instances of dispute involving the converted spouse and the non-converting spouse, the former would have surreptitiously converted the children of the civil marriage.

"In doing so, the converted spouse would further seek custody of the children from the Syariah Courts," he said.