IGP must obey court orders, says retired judges

KUALA LUMPUR - The Inspector-General of Police must obey Supreme Court's orders ahead of Syariah Court orders, said two retired Court of Appeal judges.

Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus said the IGP must respect the judicial hierarchy of the Supreme Courts, which consist of the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

"The Supreme Courts have a special place in the Constitution. There's no mention at all of Syariah Court," he told a Strategic Litigation Conference on Saturday.

The two retired judges said that when asked how the police should act in the case of S. Deepa where there were conflicting custody orders from the civil and Syariah Courts.

IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had said that he could not act on either of the courts' orders for fear of disrespecting the other.

On Dec 17 last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the Seremban High Court's decision giving custody of two children to Deepa, despite a conflicting custody ruling by the Seremban Syariah Court that had given the custody to her ex-husband, Muslim convert Izwan Abdullah.

Mohd Hishamudin disagreed with Khalid's opinion, saying a look at the judicial hierarchy would answer "whose order should you obey".

"If an order conflicts with the Syariah Court, one must give precedence to the Supreme Courts."

IGP Khalid

Datuk Mah Weng Kwai said the IGP should have referred to the Attorney-General if he had any doubts on how to carry out his orders.

Izwan, formerly known as N. Viran, had unilaterally converted their children – Nur Nabila @ V. Sharmila, 10, and Nabil @ V. Mithran, seven – without Deepa's knowledge in April 2013.

He was given the custody of the children by the Seremban Syariah Court, but the Seremban High Court later decided that custody belonged to Deepa.

Despite this, Izwan was reported to have taken away Nabil on April 9, 2014. On May 21, the High Court ordered that Nabil be returned to Deepa, and gave authority to the police to assist her in getting the child back.