IPOH: Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk) director, Harith Fadzilah Abdul Halim, warned that Muslim men in the state could still face legal action for the offence of enticing married women under the state's Syariah criminal law.
Harith Fadzilah said that in Perak, Section 30 of the Perak Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1992 was still applicable and could be used to prosecute individuals engaged in such behaviour.
"According to Section 30(1), anyone who entices a married woman or takes her away from or in any way influences her to leave the matrimonial home determined by her husband is guilty of an offence.
"If convicted, the offender may be liable to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years, or both, and the court shall order the woman to return to her husband," he told Bernama today.
On Dec 21, Terengganu Chief Syarie Judge Datuk Wan Mohd Zakri Wan Mohd, said that in Terengganu, individuals engaging in such conduct could still be subject to legal action under the relevant state Syariah criminal law.
The Federal Court's ruling on Dec 15 deemed Section 498 of the Penal Code unconstitutional, hence judicially repealing it.
The court found that the section was in violation of the Federal Constitution as it unjustly discriminated solely based on gender, contravening Article 8(2).
The unanimous decision was rendered by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, alongside Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Federal Court Judges Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.
The panel made the ruling after granting the application of a businessman who sought clarification on the constitutionality of Section 498, citing its conflict with Article 8(1)(2) of the Federal Constitution, which pertains to equality before the law and gender discrimination. - Bernama