Muslims must either respect A-G on seized Bibles or go to court, say lawyers
V. Anbalagan, The Malaysian Insider
Islamic religious authorities and Muslim civil society in Selangor should either accept the attorney-general’s decision not to prosecute the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) or challenge it in court, lawyers said, but it was ill-advised to mock him with open defiance.
They said the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) should respect Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s (picture) decision as he relied on the discretionary powers vested in him.
However, Mais and Jais could appeal to him to reconsider his decision not to prosecute BSM.
Alternatively, Mais, Jais or any Muslim non-governmental organisation could file for judicial review in a High Court to challenge Gani’s decision, the lawyers said.
The lawyers said BSM, too, could use the legal channel to compel Jais to return the 321 Bibles in Malay and Iban which were seized from its premises in Damansara Jaya on January 2.
Lawyer Abdul Shukor Ahmad said under the Federal Constitution, the A-G could exercise his discretion whether to institute, conduct or discontinue any case for an offence other than proceedings before a Shariah court.
“Since BSM is a non-Muslim entity, it is the A-G who has the prerogative whether to charge it. Mais and Jais has to respect his decision,” he said, referring to the criticism levelled at Gani over his decision last week to declare the case closed and his order Jais to facilitate the return of the holy books.
Jais enforcement officers who conducted the raid believed BSM had committed an offence under the Non-Islamic Religions (Control and Propagation among Muslims) Enactment 1988.
Shukor said if Mais and Jais wished to appeal to Gani to reconsider his decision on BSM, “they must overwhelmingly convince Gani that they have a prima facie case,” he added.
However, two days later, Mais called on the authorities to act against BSM, saying that it did not agree with Gani’s decision to close the case, and claimed his decision would cause confusion among Muslims.
Mais had also said that the seized Bibles should not be returned to BSM and believed there was a case against BSM under the enactment.
It further stated that the Selangor government had no authority to instruct Jais to return the seized books.
