PETALING JAYA: The government has withdrawn its appeal against the High Court decision which allowed the word "Allah", amongst others, to be used by non-Muslims in publications for educational purposes.
The notice to withdraw the appeal was filed by the Attorney General's Chambers on April 18.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bothassan confirmed the matter, Sinar Harian reported.
He said the withdrawal notice had been recorded at the Court of Appeal.
According to the notice, both parties wished to discontinue the appeal, which was filed on March 21, 2021.
Following this, the entire appeal was discontinued without costs.
On March 10, 2021, Justice Nor Bee Ariffin, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, ruled that a 1986 Home Ministry directive to prohibit the use of the words "Allah", "Baitullah", "Kaabah" and "solat" by non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional.
This follows the court's decision to allow a judicial review by a Christian woman of Melanau descent, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, to practise her constitutional rights of practising her religion.
The legal action by Jill Ireland started in 2008 when eight CDs she had brought in from Indonesia were confiscated by Customs officers at an airport in Sepang as they contained the word "Allah".
Jill Ireland then filed for a judicial review to challenge the seizure of the CDs as well as seeking declarations from the court that her constitutional rights were violated, among others.
In 2014, the High Court ordered the Home Ministry to return the CDs to her but did not address the constitutional points as it was bound by a Federal Court ruling.
The order to return the CDs to Lawrence Bill was upheld by the Court of Appeal the following year but she proceeded with her challenge on the Home Ministry's directive that resulted in the forfeiture.
