Single mum withdraws appeal against Perlis religious council involvement in custody case

Single mother Loh Siew Hong has filed a notice of discontinuance of her application to get leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision allowing the Perlis Islamic Religion and Malay Customs Council (MAIPs) to intervene in her divorce proceedings.

This was confirmed by her lead counsel A Srimurugan and MAIPs lawyer Daniel Farhan Zainul Rijal when contacted by Bernama today.

Srimurugan said both parties consented to withdrawing the leave to appeal application without cost.

"The reason we decided to withdraw the leave to appeal application is that the Court of Appeal has set Oct 19 to hear Loh's appeal on the legality of her children's conversion. Assuming our appeal is allowed, all the other proceedings will become redundant," he told Bernama.

Loh's other lawyer J Gunamalar, when contacted, said the notice of discontinuance of Loh's application for leave to appeal was filed today.

Danial, meanwhile, said he received the notice of discontinuance this morning.

The Federal Court was scheduled to hear Loh's application for leave to appeal tomorrow.

Loh filed an application for leave to appeal in March this year against the Court of Appeal's decision on Feb 7, this year, in allowing MAIPs to be the second respondent in her divorce petition with her ex-husband, Muhammad Nagahswaran Muniandy, involving the custody order given to her over her three children.

In the divorce petition, Loh has been granted sole custody, care, and control over the children, a pair of 15-year-old twin girls and an 11-year-old boy.

On June 15, 2022, the High Court dismissed MAIPs' application to intervene in the divorce petition between Loh and Nagahswaran, who converted to Islam with their three children, to amend the sole custody granted to Loh to enable him to provide Islamic education and training as well as zakat to the children.

MAIPs filed the application to intervene on March 7 last year to enable the religious authority to have the locus standi (legal standing) to apply to vary the terms of the custody order granted to Loh.

Loh has also filed a judicial review application to challenge her children's conversion to Islam, which she claimed was done by her ex-husband without her consent.

She, however, lost her case in the High Court, and she filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal. Her appeal is fixed for hearing on Oct 19 before the Court of Appeal.