Hishamudin Yunus J:

[1] Encl 20 is an appeal by the defendant against the decision of the learned senior assistant registrar who had dismissed the defendant's application to strike out the plaintiff's statement of claim pursuant to O 18 r 19(1) of the Rules of the High 1980.

[2] The basis of the defendant's application is that the subject-matter of the dispute falls under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.

[3] I have dismissed this appeal with costs.

[4] The plaintiff and Defendant are husband and wife. They were married in Jakarta. Some time in 1999 the plaintiff had deposited a sum of USD50,000 into the defendant's account at the Bank of Hawaii in the United States. It is averred by the plaintiff at para 8 of the statement of claim that the defendant was to hold the money on trust for the plaintiff. In June 2003 the marriage between the plaintiff and the defendant broke down and the defendant left the matrimonial home. the plaintiff filed an application at the Syariah Court at Shah Alam to determine the validity of the marriage under the Selangor Muslim Family Enactment of 1984.

[5] In this writ action, the plaintiff /husband seeks, among other reliefs, a declaration from