KOTA KINABALU: The High Court in Sabah and Sarawak yesterday allowed an application by Abdul Manap bin Bakusai @ Abu Bakar and his three children from Pitas to correct their National Registration Identity Card (MyKad) records to reflect their religion as Christian.
In delivering her grounds of judgment, Judge Datuk Celestina Stuel Galid raised serious concerns over the National Registration Department’s (NRD) practice of assigning a person’s religion without proper factual or legal basis.
The Court made clear that this was not a case of the plaintiffs renouncing Islam. Judge Celestina accepted the plaintiffs’ evidence that they and their families, including their grandparents, had always practised Christianity and had never converted to Islam.
The Court noted that documentary evidence, including identity records, baptism certificates and letters from churches, supported this position. The Court further stressed that the issue before it was not an isolated one.
Judge Celestina referred to earlier judicial decisions, including Satiah Simbunar v Director of National Registration Department, Sabah [2022] CLJU 2411, decided by Leonard Shim (then Judicial Commissioner, now Judge of the Court of Appeal), where the Court found that “Islam” had been wrongly inserted into an identity card based on assumptions made by registration officers.
More significantly, the Court also cited Zulkifli Adirin v Director of National Registration Department, Sabah [2021] MLRHU 2540, where it was found that despite the applicants’ father expressly stating “Tiada” (none) for religion in the application forms, the NRD nonetheless registered the applicants as Muslims and recorded “Islam” in their MyKad details.
Judge Celestina referred to this case to underscore that even clear and explicit instructions were disregarded, reinforcing her finding that such errors reflect a recurring administrative problem.
Judge Celestina described it as “fundamentally wrong” for the NRD to determine an individual’s religion on its own, holding that the department had gone beyond its administrative role.
She noted that, in the present case, the defendant provided no affidavit evidence explaining why the 4thplaintiff’s religion was recorded as Islam despite her application form stating otherwise.
The Court further described the situation as troubling, particularly as it involved illiterate applicants who relied on government officers for assistance.
Judge Celestina found that such actions went against the will of the applicants and had the effect of denying them their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of religion under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.
1The Court further rejected the NRD’s position that religious determination should be left to the Syariah Court, while at the same time having determined the plaintiffs’ religion administratively.
This broader concern reflects recent developments reported in the media. According to news reports in May 2025, a police report was lodged in Sabah by a woman who alleged that her identity had been fraudulently used to register her as a Muslim more than a decade earlier without her knowledge or consent.
The report has raised public concern that similar cases may exist, particularly among individuals from rural communities.
Yesterday, after having found that the plaintiffs had proven on a balance of probabilities that they were never Muslims and that the incorrect religious entries were wrongly inserted by NRD officers, the Court allowed the application with no order as to costs.
The judgment highlights the importance of adherence to constitutional safeguards and affirms that administrative processes must operate within the limits of the fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.-pr/BNN
