Constitutional rights are the same for all, breach them and anyone can sue the other

The Kuala Lumpur High Court in a landmark ruling said that individuals can sue their fellow citizens for breaches of constitutional rights.

Judge Amarjeet Singh ruled that Chinese Muslim convert preacher Firdaus Wong can be sued by eight non-Muslim parents over a video that Wong posted that encouraged covert conversion of school going children.

The ruling was based on a precedent apex court ruling in the case of Shamala Sathiyaseelan v Dr Jeyaganesh C Mogarajah (2011), which involved a dispute between spouses over the alleged infringement of their respective constitutional rights.

“The principles that stand out are that: If one citizen has a right under the Federal Constitution, there exists a correlative duty on the part of the other citizens to respect that right and not to interfere with it, bearing in mind that constitutional rights are sacrosanct, it is expected that they must be religiously safeguarded,” the judge said in a 21-page judgment delivered last month, FMT reported.

Wong’s counsel, Norazali Nordin argued that a breach of the constitution does not give rise to a cause of action by one citizen against another based on another Federal Court ruling in the case of Beatrice Fernandez v Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia & Ors, which held that constitutional rights could only be enforced against the legislature or the executive, and not private individuals.

Amarjeet ruled that the parents, the plaintiffs in the suit, had locus standi to bring the action not only in their personal capacity but also by way of public interest litigation.

“I hold that the plaintiffs are entitled to seek redress against the defendant for the infringement of their constitutional rights and the rights of other non-Muslim parents,” he said.

Wong has filed an appeal against the ruling.

The judge had ordered Wong to permanently remove the controversial video that was published last year. The judge’s order was made on July 10 based on Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.

“His advice is to get around Article 12(4) of the constitution covertly so as to deny the parents their constitutional right to determine the religion of their children,” he said.

In that video, Wong is seen giving a religious teacher advice on how to respond to minors seeking to convert to Islam without notifying their parents.

Numerous police reports were lodged against Wong after the video made its rounds on social media, prompting authorities to initiate a probe under Section 505(c) of the Penal Code for statements likely to incite public mischief.

Amarjeet also was surprised that no enforcement action had been taken against Wong, noting that his conduct showed little regard for Malaysians of other faiths and posed a risk to public order and harmony.

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