Muslim convert loses battle over birth name
Appellate panel upholds High Court’s earlier ruling rejecting application. The identity law allows for a name change, but not a return to the original name due to public order concerns. The change had caused the man problems with immigration (upon his return to India) and property rights.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – A 50-year-old Muslim convert has lost his legal battle to reclaim his birth name on his identity card after the Court of Appeal upheld the National Registration Department’s (NRD) decision to deny his request.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-member appellate panel comprising Justices Supang Lian, Collin Lawrence Sequerah, and Alwi Abdul Wahab affirmed the High Court’s earlier dismissal of the man’s judicial review application.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Sequerah said the court found no provision under Regulation 14(2A) of the National Registration Regulations 1990 that would allow a person to revert to their original name after legally adopting a new one.
“The name change is made because the applicant has absolutely renounced and abandoned the use of his original name,” Sequerah said, adding that while the law permits a name change, it does not envisage a return to the previous name.
He also noted that public policy strongly favours maintaining the integrity of name changes and preventing reversions, as this could have wider administrative and security implications.
The Court’s 28-page written judgment, dated yesterday, was made available on the judiciary’s website today.
The man, who converted to Islam in 2005 and assumed a Muslim name, claimed he encountered immigration complications when travelling to India in 2016.
Indian authorities reportedly denied him entry on the grounds that his previous visits had been under his original Hindu name, leading to his deportation to Malaysia.
Subsequently, he applied for a new Malaysian passport under his birth name, but his request was rejected because his identity card still bore his Muslim name.
In 2021, the NRD also rejected his application to change his identity card name back to his birth name.
Frustrated, the man sought a judicial review in the High Court, naming the NRD director-general and the government as respondents.
He applied for a mandamus order to compel the NRD to reinstate his original name, arguing that having different names in various documents had caused significant difficulties, including potential issues with immovable properties registered abroad under his birth name.
The NRD director-general defended the decision, citing Regulation 14(2A), which bars the reinstatement of a name once it has been lawfully renounced.
On 20 November 2023, the High Court dismissed the man’s application, a decision now reinforced by the Court of Appeal
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