KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Lawyers for single mother Loh Siew Hong are seeking to expedite the release of the appeal record following the High Court's decision to dismiss her bid to reverse the unilateral conversion of her children to Islam.

Loh's counsel J Gunamalar confirmed the matter when contacted.

"The next case management is fixed for June 7 to update [the appellate court] on the record of appeal. We are expediting the process of the record of appeal," she told The Edge on Wednesday (May 24), following case management at the Court of Appeal.

Loh is appealing the decision of High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, who on May 11 ruled that the three children had not stopped professing the religion of Islam even under Loh's care.

He noted that there was no evidence before him to indicate that the children — twin girls who are now 14 years old and a boy who is now 11 — have reverted to the Hindu religion.

Thus, the High Court judge said that for the welfare of the children, the status quo ought to be maintained.

Wan Ahmad Farid also found that there was no dispute that the certificates of conversion were issued to the children in July 2020.

Loh, 36, filed her appeal on May 15.

In her judicial review application filed in March last year, Loh was seeking declarations that her children are Hindu — her ex-husband Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy's religion prior to his conversion — and the reversal of the registration of her children's conversion to Islam.

She was also seeking declarations that the children were legally unfit to embrace Islam without her approval.

She had named Perlis Registrar of Mualaf, the state's mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, the state government and Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs) as respondents.

She filed for divorce in December 2019, and the divorce was finalised in September 2021. In March 2021, she secured a final court order, giving her full and sole custody of her children.

Despite the court order, she claimed that her children were kept from her. However, she was finally reunited with them when the High Court granted her habeas corpus application in February last year.

New judge to preside over MAIPS' application to vary custody order

In a separate court proceeding relating to the custody order given to Loh, High Court judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz will now preside over MAIPs' application to vary the said order as High Court judge Evrol Mariette Peters had recused herself in April from hearing the matter.

Gunamalar confirmed the matter with The Edge when contacted following a separate case management for the matter at the High Court on Wednesday. The next case management has been set for June 8.

In June last year, Peters had dismissed MAIPs' leave (permission) application to intervene in Loh's divorce proceedings. She ruled that the state religious body failed to show that it was an interested party in relation to the three children.

However, in February this year, the Court of Appeal (COA) allowed the religious body's appeal to intervene in Loh's divorce proceedings, making the council a respondent in the matter and paving the way for them to vary the custody order given to Loh.

MAIPs had then sought to recuse Peters, through a letter to the court in March claiming that Peters was mistaken in her judgement when she touched on the merits of the case, namely the children's religion and the variation order.

In its application to vary the custody order, MAIPs is seeking, among others, supervised access to the children twice a week for guidance and basic religious education, and to take them to observe Islamic celebrations.

Loh is also appealing the COA decision to allow MAIPs to intervene and her leave application hearing has been set for July 6.

ead also:
High Court dismisses single mother's bid to reverse unilateral conversion of children to Islam
No new judge yet for MAIPs' bid to gain access to kids of single mum Loh