S. Deepa (centre) arrives at the Federal Court in Putrajaya, February 10, 2016. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 ― The Federal Court ruled today that matters involving custody or divorce in civil marriages should only be handled by the civil courts and not the Shariah Court, unless both husband and wife are Muslims.

A five-man bench led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Raus Shariff unanimously agreed that it is also an abuse of process when a Muslim convert spouse files for dissolution of his or her civil marriage and demands for custody of children in the Shariah Court, where the non-Muslim spouse has no jurisdiction.

“The civil court has exclusive jurisdiction to grant divorce, including custody care and access of the children born under the civil marriage.

“It is an abuse of process when a spouse converted to Islam, files for dissolution of marriage and custody of children,” Raus said when reading out the judgment in court this morning.

The judge added that a non-Muslim marriage does not automatically dissolve when one partner converts to Islam.

The panel was presiding over the appeal of Muslim convert Izwan Abdullah, formerly Viran Nagapan, against a custody order in favour of his Hindu ex-wife Deepa, and against a recovery order directing the police to return their eight-year-old son Nabil (Mithran) back to Deepa.

The couple is fighting to obtain custody of both their children, Nabil and Sharmila, 11 (Nurul Nabila).

In the decision, Raus also reminded the Shariah courts and the civil courts to not overstep each other's jurisdictions.

“Both must look into the laws made by Parliament and state legislature and must comply with the Federal Constitution,” he said.

Raus added that the Negri Sembilan High Court should not have issued a recovery order under the Child Act, as custody orders from the Shariah Court are also legitimate.

He said that in the event that both courts issue similar orders, would be impossible for the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to act on one without being in contempt of the other.

Raus also rejected Deepa's lawyer's request to have her address the court for two minutes, after the court gave its decision in the custody battle.

“You have counsel to do that. No, no… if not, everyone will do this,” Raus said when dismissing the request.

The panel then set aside the High Court recovery order and revoked the Shariah Court custody order.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had previously refused to act on the High Court’s order in the interfaith child custody dispute, claiming that the police were “sandwiched” between the civil and Shariah legal systems.

Izwan ― formerly a Hindu ― had in 2012 won full custody of his children in the Shariah court after converting the two to Islam without informing Deepa.

The Muslim convert later snatched his then six-year-old son from Deepa’s house in Jelebu, Negri Sembilan on May 21, 2013, close to 48 hours after losing a custody dispute at the Seremban High Court in April.

He has kept the couple's son with him since.

The Negri Sembilan High Court however granted Deepa a recovery order in May last year, directing the police to return the boy to her.