PUTRAJAYA (June 28) : A three-member Court of Appeal bench by a majority decision late Tuesday (June 28) dismissed a stay application by Emilia Hanafi, the ex-wife of Datuk SM Faisal Syed Nasimuddin Kamal, of her seven day imprisonment sentence for contempt of the Syariah Court.
The bench, led by Justice Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, dismissed the stay application on grounds that the court does not want to interfere with the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court that ordered the jail sentence on her.
Justice Abdul Karim and Justice Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya were in the majority, while Justice Datuk Abu Bakar Jais was the minority judge who granted the stay.
"The court [majority] finds there is no merit to grant this application [for stay]. It is in our view [that] there are no special circumstances to stay the proceeding [sentence] of the Syariah Court," Justice Abdul Karim said.
Abu Bakar ruled there were special circumstances for him to grant the stay as the applicant (Emilia), who is now in prison, is a special circumstance in this case.
"This does not mean I agree or disagree that the Syariah Court has no jurisdiction. That issue is not before me. That is a matter for the appeal proper. Hence, I would allow the motion today with no order as to costs," he ruled.
With the majority decision, Emilia, who had started to serve her seven day jail sentence at Kajang prison since Monday, will continue to do so.
SM Faisal's counsel Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader confirmed the decision to theedgemarkets.com.
Emilia was represented by counsel K Shanmuga and Nizam Bashir. Nizam, and Shanmuga when separately contacted by theedgemarkets.com also confirmed the majority.
Emilia had named the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court registrar, SM Faisal, Syariah Court of Appeal and its registrar, as well as the Malaysian government as respondents.
She had filed a judicial review at the civil High Court to challenge the Syariah Court decision that ordered her to undergo the sentence, which was scheduled to be heard on July 20.
For this reason, Emilia wanted a stay of the jail sentence to be heard at the Court of Appeal, which was on Tuesday dismissed.
On Sept 4, 2019, the Syariah High Court sentenced Emilia to seven days jail for contempt of court for not abiding by an order by unilaterally rescheduling the visitation dates for her two children aged 10 and 16 to be with SM Faisal.