PUTRAJAYA (March 25): The Federal Court on Tuesday suggested that an Indonesian mother and the Malaysian government explore the possibility of an amicable resolution in a citizenship dispute involving her teenage son.

The mother is applying for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision, which dismissed her lawsuit seeking to have her son recognised as a Malaysian citizen.

During proceedings, Federal Court judge Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan suggested that, given the extraordinary circumstances of the case, the parties consider an alternative resolution.

She inquired whether the matter could be settled through Article 15 of the Federal Constitution or other available avenues.

In response, the mother’s lawyer, A Srimurugan, expressed his willingness to pursue the judge’s suggestion in the hope of resolving the matter in the teenager’s best interest.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, representing the National Registration Department (NRD) director general and the Malaysian government, indicated that they are also open to exploring a possible resolution to the matter.

He then requested three months to facilitate discussions and sought a case management date from the court.

The three-judge panel, led by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, subsequently directed the parties to attend a case management session later on Tuesday.

Also presiding on the panel were Pathmanathan and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.

The court had initially scheduled Tuesday's proceedings to hear the mother’s application for leave to appeal against the ruling via an online hearing.

She had filed a lawsuit in the High Court against the NRD director general and Malaysian government, seeking a declaration that her son is a Malaysian citizen and an order compelling the NRD to reinstate his birth certificate and issue him a MyKad.

However, her application was dismissed by the High Court on Oct 16, 2023, and her subsequent appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal in November 2023.

The mother, who married a Malaysian man in 2000, has two sons born in 2004 and 2010 respectively. 

Both children, whose identities have been withheld by the court, were registered under the father’s name and issued birth certificates. 

When the younger son reached the age of 12, he applied for a Malaysian identity card (MyKad). However, his application was referred for investigation after the authorities observed that he bore no physical resemblance to the father.

During the course of the investigation, the father admitted that the boy was not his biological son and declined to undergo a DNA test.

Consequently, the teenager’s birth certificate was seized, and the issuance of his MyKad was suspended pending further inquiries.

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