KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): The ongoing Shariah High Court dispute, initiated by Tan Sri Jamaludin Jarjis’ widow Puan Sri Dr Kalsom Ismail for her joint matrimonial asset claim to the late former minister’s RM2.1 billion estate, will go to trial in July before a new judge.

This followed the dismissal by the Shariah Court of Appeal of Kalsom's request for the case to proceed to trial on Jan 26.

The two-day hearing from July 2 before new Shariah High Court judge Abu Suffian Abdul Aziz, replacing Abdul Shukor Abd Hamid who has been transferred, will be a closed proceeding.

The directive for a closed proceeding barring the public including the media was made by Abu Suffian following case management last month.

Abu Suffian said he is following the footsteps of Abdul Shukor in keeping the proceedings closed from media scrutiny, even without any request from the parties.

Prior to this, Abdul Shukor had directed for the proceedings to be done behind closed doors due to the possibility of a settlement.

However, the likelihood of a settlement seems not to be forthcoming, as parties including Jamaludin’s mother Aminah Abdullah have failed to reach a conclusion, resulting in the matter going on trial.

Aminah is disputing her daughter-in-law’s joint matrimonial asset claim, claiming that as the surviving mother of the late ex-minister, she is entitled to her own share under the faraid Islamic distribution system.

Faraid is a concept in Islamic law to determine the distribution of property to the heirs of a deceased.

Under this law of inheritance, the surviving mother is entitled to one-sixth of the estate, while Kalsom is entitled to one-eighth.

The outcome of the case management was revealed by Aminah’s counsels Nur Hidayah A Bakar and Farhan Haziq when contacted by The Edge on Thursday.

Jamaludin passed away in a helicopter crash near Semenyih with five others in April 2015. He was the Umno Member of Parliament for Rompin at the time.

He served as the minister of science, technology and innovation from 2004 to 2008, and was also the Malaysian ambassador to the US from 2009 to 2012.

The Edge previously reported that the late Jamaludin was said to have several bank accounts locally and abroad, along with several properties, including houses in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the US.

Two of Jamaludin’s children, Ikhwan Hafiz and Nur Anis, were given letters of administration by the Civil High Court in 2017 to manage the estate.