PUTRAJAYA: The appeal by National Registration Department (NRD) and two others in the “bin Abdullah” case has been set for further case management on March 21 with the government trying to resolve the matter by other means other than through the court.
Lawyer Nizam Bashir, representing a Muslim couple who is seeking to remove the “bin Abdullah” from their child’s birth certificate, said the government was trying to resolve the matter as the decision in the appeal would have a far reaching implication on other similar cases in other states.
The matter came up for case management before deputy registrar Norhafizah Zainal Abidin in chambers yesterday.
Nizam said there were also instructions for the matter to be reheard by a new Federal Court panel, but the Johor Islamic Religious Council objected to it.
He told reporters that the hearing of the appeal proper and the council’s objection was fixed on May 27.
Also present during the case management proceedings were senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob, representing the NRD, its director-general and the government; lawyer Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah , appearing for the Johor Islamic Religious Council and lawyer Halimatunsa’diah Abu Ahmad, for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS).
On Nov 22, last year, the Federal Court three-man bench led by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop deferred the verdict in the “bin Abdullah” case after senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh sought adjournment of the delivery of the court’s decision.– Bernama
