The private member’s bill, commonly known as RUU 355, was tabled by Marang MP Abdul Hadi Awang last April in an attempt to increase the penalties for shariah offences.

Justice Nordin Hassan said he needed to go through the submissions by Tawfik’s lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, and senior federal counsel for the government, Shamsul Bolhassan.

Speaking to reporters after the case, Shamsul said there was no live issue to be tried as the 13th Dewan Rakyat session had been dissolved and Pandikar Amin Mulia was no longer the speaker.

Rosli however maintained that there were triable issues in Tawfik’s lawsuit.

“Hadi never retracted his motion, and there are rumours that he may try to table it again.”

He also said they wanted the court to make a pronouncement on issues relating to the Conference of Rulers under Article 38 of the Federal Constitution.

“We hope there are no others who try to table something similar to Hadi’s bill without referring to the sultans,” he said.

“And of course, one needs to get the sultans’ views for bills on Islamic matters beforehand, not after.”

Tawfik, who is the son of former deputy prime minister Ismail Abdul Rahman, filed the suit against Pandikar and Dewan Rakyat secretary Roosme Hamzah last year.

He claimed Hadi’s bill did not conform with the requirements of the Dewan Rakyat standing orders.

Pandikar and Roosme sought to strike out Tawfik’s suit but the court refused their bid to annul and ordered for the case to be tried.