Judge Nor Bee Ariffin said the Cabinet came out with the policy decision in May 1986 and this could be seen in a note by then deputy prime minister Abdul Ghafar Baba to the home ministry.
The May 16, 1986 note stated “Allah”, “Kaabah”, “Baitullah” and “Solat” generally could not be used by Christians provided the condition was met.
However, on Dec 5, 1986, a ministry official, Hassan Jantan on behalf of the secretary-general, issued a directive to all Christian publications that the four words were totally prohibited.
Hassan had said that state religious councils too had a say in this matter as Islam came under their jurisdiction.
He said the government made the decision in order to maintain public order and avoid confusion among Muslims and Christians.
Nor Bee said it was on this directive that the home minister Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar (2008-2009) had affirmed an affidavit in support of the ministry’s argument to ban Sarawakian Jill Ireland from using the word “Allah”.
“His ministry, having the charge of regulating, printing and publication, was made responsible to execute and enforce the said law and the government’s policy under Act 301,” she said in her 96-page judgment made available.
Act 301 is the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
Noor Bee said on a true and proper construction of the then prime minister’s (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) letter and the then deputy prime minister’s (late Ghafar Baba) note, the Cabinet’s policy decision did not impose a total ban on the four words. The impugned directive did.
“The impugned directive, in my view, was simply a stand-alone directive, so to speak, issued by the Publications Control Division (Bahagian Kawalan Penerbitan) of the ministry,” she said.
The judge noted there may not even be this judicial review proceeding if the Cabinet’s policy decision was correctly, properly and validly carried into effect by using the appropriate law under the charge of the home ministry.
On March 10, Nor Bee ruled that Ireland had the constitutional right to use and import any publications for her religious education and practise her faith without discrimination.
She also held that the December 1986 ministry directive to prohibit the use of the four words by non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional.
The judge said the directive was wrongly issued as it went beyond the aim of the Act (Printing Presses and Publications Act).
“The law is only to check on undesirable publications. It is not a general law to check on public order, public health and morality,” she said, adding that the ministry had acted unreasonably, illegally and irrationally.
Ireland filed a judicial review application on Aug 20, 2008 after ministry enforcement officials confiscated her eight Christian educational audio compact discs which had carried the word “Allah”.
The incident happened after she arrived at the Sepang Low-Cost Carrier terminal on May 11, 2008, on a flight from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Last Monday, the government filed an appeal against the High Court ruling.
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