Catholic Church to know fate in final ‘Allah’ bid today

Father Lawrence Andrew (left) and Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam at the Federal Court in Putrajaya today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, January 21, 2015.The public importance of the Catholic Church's appeal to use the word Allah in the Bahasa section of its newsweekly, Herald, was unfortunately not addressed by the Federal Court, the church’s lawyer Datuk Dr Cyrus Das told the Federal Court today.He said the importance of the issue was self-evident in the unprecedented convening of seven judges to hear the leave application, which he said had never happened before in the history of leave applications made to Malaysian courts."The sharp divide of 4:3 against leave reflects the deep controversy over the issue at stake."Someone had got to answer these questions on Article 3 on Islam and Article 11 on the freedom of religion as they continue to be raised in public controversies," he submitted today, referring to articles in the Federal Constitution.Das added that there were four judgments going either way in the case that emanated from the High Court in 2009, where the trial court judge ruled that the Herald had a constitutional right to use the Arabic word for "God".Three federal court judges in the seven-member bench in June last year also gave dissenting judgments that favoured the church."If the apex court is not prepared to take on these questions, where do we go?"How do we reconcile Article 3 (1) on the religion of the Federation as it goes to the heart of the Constitution and the system of governance we have," Das added.The federal constitution enshrines Islam as the religion of the federation while giving adherents of other faiths the freedom to practice their religions as long as it did not involve proselytization of Muslims.Last June, the seven-member Federal Court panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, in a majority judgment, dismissed the Catholic Church's application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision.The appellate court allowed the government's application to overturn the 2009 High Court's decision that the Herald could use the word "Allah".Das also argued today that the Federal Court’s majority judgment last June was decided on issues which were not raised by parties before.Among them is the constitutionality of Section 9 of the Anti-Propagation Enactment which was passed to preserve the purity of Islam. Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution gives the states, including the Federal Territories, power to enact laws to control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrines or beliefs among Muslims.Ten states, including Selangor, have since 1988 passed enactments (Section 9) to stop non-Muslims from using between 18 and 25 words, one of which is “Allah".Arifin, who delivered the majority judgment, said the church in the High Court challenged the validity of the enactment and judge Lau Bee Lan had upheld the point raised.Senior federal counsel Suzana Atan said today that the review should not be granted as the Federal Court was right in discovering that the High Court judge had declared Section 9 (1) of the state enactments as unconstitutional.She also submitted that the parties were allowed to make submissions at length on all points and there was no material separation of evidence."This is not a fit and proper case for review because there is no special circumstance for gross injustice or abuse of process," she added.Representing Majlis Agama Islam Dan Adat Melayu Terengganu, counsel Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah said even if the Federal Court had made a wrong ruling in denying the church leave, Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court would not be applicable to support this review now."The matter should be allowed to rest. Otherwise, it would open up old wounds and spark public unrest," he added.He also said the church could revisit the Allah issue in another case, and not at this juncture.He reminded the five-man bench that this case started off as a judicial review application to challenge the Home Minister's decision to ban the use of the word "Allah" in the Herald.The Federal Court adjourned for recess and would deliver a decision this afternoon.Earlier today, the court rejected the church's application for an enlarged bench. The court held that the power to set up the panel belonged to the Chief Justice and was not for this court to decide. – January 21, 2015.