Lawyer files application to verify divorce between Sultan and second wife

KOTA BAHARU, March 9 -- A syarie lawyer, Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar today filed an application at the Syariah High Court here for verification of the Sultan of Kelantan's divorce of his second wife, Che Puan Elia Suhana Ahmad.

In a statement to Bernama, Zainul said he had been instructed by the Sultan of Kelantan, Tuanku Ismail Petra Tuanku Yahya Petra to file the application to verify the divorce between them.

He said the Sultan had pronounced the "lafaz" (divorce proclamation) to Elia Suhana in front of several witnesses last Feb 12.

The court had fixed March 21 to hear the application, he added.

Two days ago, the sultan's consort, the Raja Perempuan of Kelantan, Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid, filed an objection in the same court to a show-cause order for refusing to comply with a court order allowing Elia Suhana to visit the ruler.

On Feb 4, the court had allowed Elia Suhana, 31, to visit the sultan, who was then undergoing treatment at a Singapore hospital, between Saturday and Monday morning every week.

However, Elia Suhana had claimed that she was prevented from seeing her husband and, on Feb 21, the court ordered Tengku Anis and her bodyguards to attend court to show cause why they had refused to comply with the court order and explain why action should not be taken against them.

The court has fixed April 4 to hear this case.

The sultan returned to Kelantan on March 4.

BERNAMA