MAIPs fails in bid to vary Loh's child custody order

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today dismissed the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council's (MAIPs) application to intervene in a divorce petition between a single mother, Loh Siew Hong and her ex-husband Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, who converted to Islam with their three children.

Judge Evrol Mariette Peters made the decision after finding that MAIPs had failed to show that it was an interested party in relation to the children and ordered MAIPs to pay costs of RM8,000 to Loh.

"The children are not orphans. They do not belong to the community of Perlis. They reside in Selangor and went to Perlis for the conversion only," she said.

The judge said the state religious body had also failed to seek the views of the former husband in relation to the bid to vary Loh's full custody order.

On March 7, MAIPs filed the intervention application so that it would have locus standi to apply for a variation on the terms of the sole custody order granted to Loh.

In the divorce petition, Loh, 34, was granted sole custody, care and control over the three children, 14-year-old twin girls and a 10-year-old boy.

Peters in her judgment, said MAIPs would still not be allowed to intervene as it only has jurisdiction over Muslims in Perlis, even in the event that the children's conversion was done properly.

The judge further said that MAIPs had failed to prove that the single mother did not ensure her children still continued to receive religious education.

She said the family's role to safeguard the interest of the children could be seen in the analogy of inviting guests into the family home.

"The application to seek leave to intervene in Loh's divorce proceedings is equivalent to asking the court with MAIPs as the dinner host to enter the home and eventually sit at dinner with the family.

"The host here is the family court which has to be cautious of the guests invited to dinner as there are children in the house that need to be protected. If the host is cautious of the guests, it is better not to allow them to enter as that would not only waste their time but also the host's.

"My decision is that even if the children are in fact Muslims, this intervener application by MAIPs must fail as it failed to show it is an interested party," said the judge.

Loh was also present in court today.

After the judge delivered the decision, Nagahswaran's counsel, Malcom Fernandez said his client who is currently serving a jail term in Machang, Kelantan had filed an application to obtain access to communicate with his children via video conference each week.

However, Loh's counsel A. Srimurugan said he needed to seek instruction from his client on the matter.

Fernandez then proposed to the court to interview the children on the matter to which the judge disagreed.

"I do not like to interview the children because it can be intimidating. Please remember, this is about children's rights and not about parent's rights," she said and set July 4 for further case management.

-- BERNAMA