Civil courts have jurisdiction to determine a person's religious status, distinguishing between ab initio cases and renunciation cases, with the latter falling under Syariah Court jurisdiction.

JUDGMENT

Choong Yeow Choy JC:

Introduction

[1] The matter before this Court concerns the religion of the Plaintiffs.

[2] The Plaintiffs, Nivethah a/p Thamayandiran and Swetha a/p Thamayandiran, seek two broad categories of reliefs. The second set of reliefs are consequential to the granting of the reliefs sought under the first broad category.

[3] The first are declarations that are general in nature, namely, (a) that the Plaintiffs' religion is, and has always been, Hindu; and (b) that all laws made by the Selangor State Legislative Assembly under the Ninth Schedule, List II, Item 1 of the Federal Constitution , including the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 do not apply to or affect the Plaintiffs.

[4] The second type of reliefs sought by the Plaintiffs are targeted primarily at the 1st defendant, the Ketua Pengarah, Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara. In the event that this Court grants the first type of reliefs sought by the Plaintiffs, they seek the following Declaration/Order, namely, (a) that the Plaintiffs are entitled to be issued identity cards by the Defendant in recognition of their religion; and (b) an order in the nature of Mandamus directing the Defendant to issue identity cards to the Plaintiffs which reflect the Declarations made under the first category of reliefs sought.

[5] The 2nd defendant in this action is the Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS).

Overriding Issues

[6] The principal issue for consideration is whether this Court is seized with the jurisdiction to determine the religion of the Plaintiffs.

[7] If the answer to the above key issue is in the affirmative, the corresponding issue is whether the Plaintiffs were born into the Muslim faith. In resolving this equally crucial issue, questions arise as to the applicable law for determining the religion of a citizen in this country.

[8] If the answer to the question outlined in the preceding para [7] is in the negative, the issue of renunciation of the Muslim faith does not arise.

The Jurisdiction Issue

[9] At the outset, it should be emphasized that this Court, being a civil Court, will not have jurisdiction and accordingly cannot exercise jurisdiction over this matter if this matter were one that involves the renunciation of the Muslim faith. Cases involving the renunciation of the Muslim faith are within the exclusively jurisdiction of the Syariah Court. Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution expressly provides that the High Court in Malaya referred to in art 121(1) "shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts".

[10] In addition, this Court takes cognizance of the provisions in ss 61(3)(b) (x) and 74(2) of the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 which expressly confer jurisdiction on the Syariah Court in Selangor to hear cases relating to the renunciation of the Muslim faith.

[11] However, in cases where a person's religious status of whether she or he is a Muslim or not is in dispute, on the authority of the decision of the Federal Court in Rosliza Ibrahim v. Kerajaan Negeri Selangor & Anor, 2021 MarsdenLR 3041 ("Rosliza Ibrahim"), this Court has the exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine the said issue. As articulately clarified by the Federal Court:

[78] ... Syariah Courts may only exercise jurisdiction over a person or persons on two conditions. Firstly, the person shall profess the religion of Islam. This can generally be classified as jurisdiction ratione personae - where the jurisdiction of the tribunal or Court is contingent on the litigant's legal persona. The phrase is most commonly used in disputes where one party is a sovereign, a foreign State, or one who enjoys diplomatic immunity and privileges cloaking him with immunity from legal process.

[79] Secondly, even if Syariah Courts may exercise jurisdiction ratione personae, they must still ensure that they have jurisdiction over the subject matter as expressly enu