Melanau clerk Jill Ireland who had been seeking legal redress for the return of eight religious Christian CDs with the word Allah on it, will finally get it back tomorrow, albeit more than seven years later.

A letter issued by the Home Ministry dated Sept 2 to her lawyer Annou Xavier, stated that the CDs can be picked up from tomorrow onwards, during office hours.

“We are glad to inform and on advice by the ministry's legal adviser, and your letter dated Aug 26, 2015, that we are returning the CDs and they can be picked up from tomorrow at the Publication and Quranic Texts Control Division between 8.30am to 5.30pm,” the letter states.

The letter was sent to Annou ( photo ) at his law firm Azri, Lee Swee Seng, and Co today.

Three months ago, the Court of Appeal in its unanimous decision upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision ordering the Home Ministry to return the CDs.

Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the Customs Department acted ultra vires (beyond the law) of Section 9 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

"The order to seize the CDs was not envisaged by Parliament.

"The order was issued by the Customs Department's Suzanah Muin who was not empowered to make the order," she stated.

She also ruled that the allegations by Ireland that the ban on her use of the term 'Allah' violated her rights under Article 8 (equality) and Article 11 (freedom of religion), be remitted back for it to be heard at the High Court before another judge.

On May 11, 2008, the eight CDs bearing titles such as ‘ Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah ’ (Way of Life under the Kingdom of Allah), ‘ Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah ’ (True Life under the Kingdom of Allah), and ‘ Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah ’ (True Worship under the Kingdom of Allah), were seized from Ireland upon her arrival at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal at Sepang, when she brought them in from Indonesia.

The case took almost eight years as it was awaiting the decision of another case, in which the Archbishop of the Catholic Church challenged the Home Ministry in the use of Allah for its Bahasa Malaysia publication of The Herald weekly.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court had on July 21 last year, ordered the CDs be returned but the Home Ministry appealed the decision.