PUTRAJAYA: As of 8am today, about 200 people have gathered in front of the Palace of Justice here to hear the Federal Court's decision on a constitutional challenge to the Kelantan Syariah criminal enactment.
The area was cordoned off, and several police officers and representatives from the Putrajaya Corporation were on site to manage the crowd.
Chants of 'Takbir' and 'Allahuakhbar' rang out among the crowd who held up placards that read 'Pertahan enakmen syariah Kelantan' (protect Kelantan's Syariah enactment) and 'Selamatkan Syariah' (save syariah) at Putrajaya Square.
Some of them brought their children to show support for the gathering.
The Federal Court is set to render its verdict today on a constitutional challenge initiated by a Muslim mother and her daughter seeking to nullify 18 state provisions under the Kelantan Syariah criminal enactment.
The decision is scheduled to be delivered in open court at 9am by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who is leading a nine-member panel of judges.
The constitutional challenge was initiated by Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid, a lawyer born in Kelantan, and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman on May 25, 2022.
They utilised Article 4(4) of the Federal Constitution to directly approach the Federal Court, listing the Kelantan state government as the respondent.
The 18 impugned provisions are:
- Section 11: Destroying or defiling a place of worship
- Section 13: Selling or giving away a child to non-Muslim or morally reprehensible Muslim
- Section 14: Sodomy
- Section 16: Sexual intercourse with a corpse
- Section 17: Sexual intercourse with a non-human
- Section 30: Words capable of breaking peace
- Section 31: Sexual harassment
- Section 34: Possessing false document, giving false evidence, information or statement
- Section 37: Gambling
- Section 39: Reducing scales, measurements and weights
- Section 40: Executing transactions contrary to 'hukum syarak' (syariah law)
- Section 41: Executing transactions via usury
- Section 42: Abuse of halal label and connotation
- Section 43: Offering or providing vice services
- Section 44: Preparatory act of offering or providing vice services
- Section 45: Preparator act of vice
- Section 47: Act of incest
- Section 48: Muncikari (person who acts as a procurer between a female and a male for the purpose which is contrary to hukum syarak).
The duo contended that the power to legislate on criminal matters belongs exclusively to Parliament, with state assemblies only given the right to enact laws concerning the Islamic faith.
Article 4(4) enables the court to assess the validity of laws enacted by Parliament or a state legislature if it is believed that these bodies exceeded their legislative authority. The direct appeal to the Federal Court was chosen due to its exclusive jurisdiction granted by Article 128(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution for such matters.
In the case of constitutional challenges pursued through the Article 4(4) channel, permission or leave from a Federal Court judge is required to initiate the process.
Several opposition political bigwigs were also seen at the gathering, including Pas secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) vice-president Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.