PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court has set February 9 to deliver its verdict in a constitutional challenge brought by two Muslim women to nullify 18 provisions under Kelantan’s shariah criminal enactment.
Lawyer A. Surendra Ananth, one of the lawyers representing Kelantan-born Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Abdul Rahman, said when contacted that he received a letter today from the court notifying of the decision date.
On November 20 last year, the Federal Court’s nine-man panel led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat reserved the court’s decision after it completed hearing submissions from parties in the legal challenge.
Other members of the panel were Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais.
Nik Elin and Tengku Yasmin filed the petition to challenge the constitutionality and validity of 18 provisions under the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code (l) Enactment 2019.
They claimed the Kelantan assembly did not have the power to enact laws on 18 offences as there were federal laws covering the same offences.
They filed the petition directly to the Federal Court under Article 4(4) of the federal constitution and named the Kelantan government as the sole respondent.
On September 30, 2022, the Federal Court granted the two women leave to commence their constitutional challenge.
They argued the provisions that cover shariah offences – which include among others incest, gambling, sodomy and sexual harassment – were invalid as they were already covered by federal law. – January 24, 2024