Lawyers to accompany boy to JPN, slam 'bureaucratic madness' despite court order to issue MyKad

Lawyers for a stateless teenager who was granted Malaysian citizenship by the court last month have expressed outrage at the National Registration Department's (JPN) refusal to comply with the ruling, raising questions about the government's earlier pledge to resolve similar cases which have resulted in tens of thousands of locals being denied a normal life despite having spent their entire lives in the country.

On Dec 8, the Kuala Lumpur High Court gave JPN and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution 30 days to issue a blue MyKad to the teenager, a 17-year-old boy who had just sat for his SPM examination last month.

However, instead of implementing the court order, the boy's repeated visits to JPN ended not only with being burdened with piles of forms to fill in, but also with his mother being shouted at by a JPN official.

"We are shocked and appalled that a national government department such as JPN can act in this lawless manner and disrespect an order of the High Court," said Latheefa Koya, N Surendran and Zaid Malek, who represent the boy.

They questioned Saifuddin's and the home ministry's failure to comply more than a month after the court order.

"The home minister, JPN and the government cannot breach court orders in this reckless way; it will make nonsense of the rule of law in Malaysia," they said, adding that JPN's actions offered little hope for the plight of thousands of other stateless Malaysians whose applications Saifuddin had promised to review.

"If even someone who has a court order is treated this way, we shudder to think of the treatment of thousands of stateless children still out there," they added.

Tomorrow, the trio will accompany the boy and his mother to JPN Putrajaya to ensure the court directive is carried out immediately so that he can pursue further education.

They warned that any further refusal by JPN would prompt them to file contempt of court proceedings against the department, as well as legal action against Saifuddin.

24 forms, 62 categories

JPN has handed the boy 24 different sets of forms spanning 62 categories, but lawyers said none of them related to the issuance of a MyKad as instructed by the court.

"This is sheer bureaucratic madness. He was sent away with all these forms, but without the MyKad application form. It is a clear attempt to frustrate and disregard the court order," they said, adding that JPN acted with "unlawful and unjustifiable disobedience to the court order".

They also questioned the need for the boy to obtain the signature of a "wakil rakyat" (elected representative) on one of the forms.

"Do 'wakil rakyat' now override an order of court?"