The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur through his lawyers reached an agreement with the 7 interveners who have appealed against the High Court decision that dismissed their application to intervene in the Herald’s ‘Allah’ case.
The parties agreed that the 7 interveners are allowed to appear and submit at the main appeal filed by the Government against the High Court decision dated 31 December 2009 that allowed the Herald publication to use the word ‘Allah’.
The 7 interveners are the Terengganu, Selangor, Kedah, Malacca, Wilayah Persekutuan of Kuala Lumpur and Johor State Islamic Councils and the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (Association).
The parties submitted their agreement before the Court of Appeal today and a consent order thereof was duly recorded. The Court of Appeal was chaired by Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin, JCA. Justices Datuk Balia Yusof Wahi and Datuk Rohana Yusuf were the other two judges on the panel.
The parties have in the consent order recorded that the Islamic Councils and the Association are deemed to have been parties to the judicial review proceedings in the High Court.
Previously on May 8, the Court of Appeal comprising of the same panel did query the propriety of the procedure adopted by the High Court to simultaneously hear the Archbishop’s main action for judicial review and the interveners' applications. The Court of Appeal even suggested that if this procedure is irregular that the appeal should be allowed and the matter remitted to the High Court to be heard afresh.
The case management of the appeal by the government on the main action is now scheduled on 30 May 2013.
The Appeal on the main action stems from the decision by High Court judge Lau Bee Lan on 31 December 2009 that declared illegal, null and void, the Home Minister’s decision to prohibit Herald publication from using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section.