Nov 12 hearing of SIS application to quash MAIS ruling

The High Court here today set Nov 12 to hear a judicial review application by Sisters In Islam (SIS) to challenge the decision of the Selangor Islamic Religious Council in declaring the organisation as deviating from Islamic teachings.

High Court deputy registrar Nor Hasniah Ab Razak set the date in chambers in the presence of lawyers Rafeeza Hamdan, representing SIS and its two founders -- Zainah Mahfoozah Anwar and Datuk Seri Mohd Zaid Ibrahim -- and Majdah Muda, for MAIS.

Majdah told reporters that the matter would be heard before High Court Judge (Appellate and Special Powers Division) Datuk Asmabi Mohamad.

She said the court also set Oct 26 for case management.

On Dec 10 last year, SIS, Zainah and Mohd Zaid Ibrahim had obtained leave from the High Court for the judicial review application.

In allowing the application, Asmabi held that the application was not frivolous.

In the application, SIS and its founders had named the Selangor Fatwa Committee, MAIS and the Selangor government as respondents.

They are seeking a certiorari order to quash the decision of the Selangor Fatwa Committee and MAIS which stated that the organisation and any individuals as well as groups which carry the deviant ideologies of liberalism and pluralism as deviating from the teachings of Islam.

The applicants are also seeking a declaration that the decision of the Selangor Fatwa Committee and MAIS in directing, through the edict, the Multimedia and Communications Commission to block social websites that went against Islamic teachings contradicted Section 3 (3) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

They, among others, applied for a declaration that the decision of the Selangor Fatwa Committee and MAIS was ultra vires Article 10, 11, 74 and the Ninth Schedule List I and II of the Federal Constitution.

They are also seeking a declaration that SIS, which was formed under the Companies Act 1965 as a company limited by guarantee, was not subject to the decisions of the Selangor Fatwa Committee and MAIS.