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Home Minister's action was unconstitutional, court told
By M. MAGESWARIKUALA LUMPUR: The then Home Minister had acted in breach of the constitutional rights of the publisher of the Herald in imposing a ban on the use of word Allah, the High Court heard.
Lead counsel Porres Royan, who acted for the applicant, submitted that Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had acted in violation of several articles of the Federal Constitution by prohibiting the use of the word Allah in the Catholic weekly.
Porres submitted that the applicant has the constitutional right to use the word Allah in the Herald as provided for by the Federal Constitution.
He argued that the minister had also acted ultra vires (outside the law) of the the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
The Act was not meant for the purpose of regulating any religious groups in the practice and progagation of their faith which includes the use of religious publications, he submitted before High Court judge Justice Lau Bee Lan on Monday.
He submitted that the use of the word Allah is essential for the worship and instructions in the faith of the Bahasa Malaysia speaking community of the Catholic Church in Malaysia and is integral to the practice and propagation of their faith.
Imposing a condition under the Act to prohibit the use of this word would have the effect of regulating this religious group in the practice and propagation of their faith, he said.
Among others, he argued that there were serious doubt as to the identity of the decision maker of the decision dated Jan 7.
He said Syed Hamid affirmed in his affidavit dated July 6 that he had made the decision to prohibit the use of the word in the publication while his secretary-general Che Din Yusoh in his affidavit-in-reply dated May 26 stated his division had make the decision and another part stated that it was his (Che Din) decision.
Senior Federal Counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Md however submitted that the minister has the power to impose such a condition and that the minister had exercised his power lawfully.
He said the granting of a publication permit is the absolute discretion of the minister and the permit holder has no choice but to comply with the conditions attached to it.
Any challenge can only be in respect of the decision of the minister not to grant or to revoke or suspend the permit, he said.
He said there was no evidence that the minister was prejudiced or biased, had acted in bad faith or had acted contrary to the rules of natural justice in attaching the condition.
In our country, if one refer to Allah or mentions the kalimah (verse) Allah, it will bring to ones mind that it refers to the God for Muslims. Kalimah Allah is sacred to the Muslims and put at the highest position and its sanctity must be protected.
Thus, kalimah Allah is not just a mere word or translation of the word God as described in the Herald, but it is a special name for the Muslims God.
The usage of the kalimah Allah as an intepretation of the word God may cause confusion, religious sensitivity amd disharmony between the Muslims and Christians, he said when asking the court to reject the judicial review application.
He said further that the applicants contention that the Bahasa Malaysia term for God is Allah and Lord is Tuhan is clearly perverse, erroneous and misconceived.
We submit that that Allah being exclusive and special name cannot be interchangeably used as a general term, he added.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam had applied to declare that the Herald is entitled to use the word and that its use was not exclusive to Islam.
Rev Murphy had named the minister and the Government as respondents in the application filed on Feb 16.
The archbishop is named as an applicant in this action as publisher of the Herald.
Home Minister's action was unconstitutional, court told
you can't call Jesus John wyne in christianity etc or you can't use Allah as a universal name for all religions that is a Muslim view point on religon , and other religions have their own views , so we can't assume or gov should not force this issue ...
