KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16): The legal challenge filed by M Indira Gandhi and 13 others against the validity of state laws concerning unilateral religious conversion has been scheduled to be heard by the court in February next year.

The date was set after the court dismissed the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council’s (MAIWP) application for a stay on grounds that there were no special circumstances to pause the case.

High Court judge Datuk Aliza Sulaiman will preside over the matter on Feb 3.

Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, representing the plaintiffs, said MAIWP asked for the stay pending the outcome of a separate case involving Mohamad Haniff Khatri, who is seeking a court declaration that the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Federal Constitution is the authoritative text.

Indira and 13 others filed the originating summons (OS) in March 2023, primarily to nullify unilateral conversion in seven states and the Federal Territories.

They claimed that the state enactments contravened Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution, as interpreted in Indira's landmark 2018 case on unilateral conversion.

Article 12(4) states that the religion of a person aged under 18 is to be decided by his “parent or guardian". In the landmark decision, the apex court ruled that the word “parent” in the article is to be interpreted as “parents” if both are still alive. Therefore, both parents’ permission is needed in conversion cases.

The plaintiffs also argued that according to Article 75 of the Federal Constitution, the federal law shall prevail over any state law which is inconsistent with it. Therefore, they assert that the state enactments allowing unilateral conversion should be declared void.

Defendants in the suit are the governments of Johor, Perlis, Melaka, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Perak and the Federal Territories.

The government of Pahang, which was initially also a defendant, was removed from the suit after it amended its state laws to prevent unilateral conversion.