The court emphasized that willful non-compliance with court orders, particularly regarding child custody, warrants stringent sanctions to uphold justice and the integrity of the judicial process.

Introduction

[1] These were applications by the Petitioner wife in encl 100, and the Respondent in encl 103. The Petitioner's application was for committal proceedings ("the Committal Application") against the Respondent husband for breaching several Orders by this Court, whilst the Respondent's application was to set aside leave ("the Setting Aside Application") that was granted to initiate such committal proceedings.

[2] Since both the Committal Application and Setting Aside Application were interrelated, they were dealt with in these grounds of judgment.

The Factual Background

[3] The Petitioner and Respondent were married on 25 May 2007 under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 ("the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act"), and have three children ("the Children") from such union.

[4] The marriage had deteriorated and in December 2019, the Petitioner had filed for divorce, which was made absolute in July 2021.

[5] Pursuant to four Court Orders ("the Court Orders"), namely, an interim ex parte order dated 20 December 2019 ("the First Court Order"), an ad interim injunction order dated 7 January 2020 ("the Second Court Order"), an inter partes order dated 8 October 2020 ("the Third Court Order"), and an order for the divorce petition dated 31 March 2021 ("the Fourth Court Order"), sole guardianship, custody, care and control of the Children was granted to the Petitioner.

[6] Upon investigation, it came to light that in July 2020, the Respondent had played an active role in facilitating the conversion of the Children from Hinduism to Islam, collaborating with the Intervener to carry out the conversion at the Pejabat Agama Islam Perlis.

[7] In November 2020, the Respondent was imprisoned due to drug- related offences (although he was subsequently released from prison in November 2022). Consequently, the Children found themselves under the care of one Nazirah Nantha Kumari Abdullah ("Nazirah") at the Hidayah Centre Foundation, in Bayan Lepas, Penang.

[8] The Petitioner asserted that Nazirah had obstructed her from meeting and taking custody of the Children. In response, the Petitioner filed a habeas corpus application at the Criminal Court, which was allowed in February 2022 (see Loh Siew Hong v. Nazirah Nanthakumar Abdullah & Anor 2022 MarsdenLR 249 ; ). Consequently, the Petitioner was reunited with the Children.

[9] In March 2022, the Petitioner faced, and opposed an application by the Intervener, which had applied to vary the Fourth Court Order. The High Court dismissed the Intervener's application (Loh Siew Hong v. Nagahswaran Muniandy (Majlis Agama Islam Dan Adat Istiadat Melayu Perlis (MAIPs) Proposed Intervener) 2022 MarsdenLR 1520 ; [2023] 9 MLJ 68; [2022] 8 CLJ 933), but the Court of Appeal subsequently overturned this decision. Currently, the Petitioner is in the process of seeking leave to appeal to the Federal Court, against the decision of the Court of Appeal.

[10] In March 2022, the Petitioner filed an application at the Appellate and Special Powers Court, seeking a