‘A-G, Selangor MB must educate MAIS on who’s the boss’
(The Rakyat Post) – The Attorney-General (A-G) and the Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) must flex their muscles now and educate the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) on “who’s the boss”.
DAP lawmaker and lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said that A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim needed to teach MAIS to be more law-abiding and not behave in an outrightly defiant manner.
“The A-G needs to show that he is in charge, while the Selangor MB needs to also step in to ensure the Bibles are returned to BSM (Bible Society of Malaysia),” Gobind told The Rakyat Post today.
“My position is that both MAIS and JAIS (Selangor Islamic Religious Department) have no legal standing to continue holding on to the Bibles.
“The Bibles were earlier seized as evidence for investigation purposes, but since the A-G himself has declared that there is no legal avenue for prosecution, the books must be returned … end of the matter.”
Gobind also demanded that MAIS give its legal basis for being adamant in not wanting to return the Bibles.
“There is no legal basis for them to hold on to the Bibles.
“Section 407A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which they cited to justify that their actions were lawful, is only applicable when there is a prosecution.
“In this case, there was never a prosecution to begin with,” Gobind pointed out.
MAIS, in a statement today, stressed that it would not return the Bibles, claiming that the A-G made a mistake in not pursuing a charge.
The council stressed that it was confident that there was an existing law under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, to provide for prosecution.
