KUALA LUMPUR: The Syariah High Court here has set July 18 for hearing of a claim for matrimonial property worth RM1 billion filed by Puan Sri Dr Kalsom Ismail, who is the widow of Tan Sri Jamaludin Jarjis, a former minister who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2015.

Syariah lawyer Nur Hidayah A. Bakar, represented Jamaludin's mother, Aminah Abdullah, 88, named as the fifth defendant, informed reporters of the hearing date when met after the case proceeding before Syariah Judge Haznita Hamidon.

According to Nur Hidayah, at today's proceedings, the court ordered all parties to resolve the issue on the amendments to the statement of claim.

"The Syariah judge ordered the second amendment (to the statement of claim) to be settled first, and the court set July 18 for the next hearing date," she said.

Following the adjournment of the case for the third time, Nur Hidayah said she applied for the plaintiff (Kalsom) to pay the costs.

"However, the Syarie judge decided that the cost will be fixed at the end of the case," she said.

Also present at the proceedings was Syarie lawyer Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah, representing Kalsom.

Kalsom, 66, is claiming for matrimonial property, including properties in Malaysia, the United States of America and Makkah, as well as several companies.

It is understood that Kalsom filed the matrimonial property claim in October 2018 last year and had named her four children -- Ikwan Hafiz, Nur Anis, Nurul Alyaa and Noor Adilla -- as well as Kalsom, as defendants.

Jamaludin, who was also the former Malaysian Ambassador to the United States, was killed on April 4, 2015, after the helicopter he was travelling in from Pekan, Pahang, enroute to Kuala Lumpur, crashed at Kampung Sungai Pening, Semenyih, Selangor, at 4.55 pm.

Also killed were the pilot, Captain Clifford William Fournier, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's private secretary Datuk Seri Azlin Alias, businessman Datuk Tan Huat Seang, Jamaludin's personal aide Razakan Seran and a woman known as Aidana Baizieva.

-- BERNAMA