E Meeriam Rosaline’s lawyer, Ramesh Sivakumar, said High Court judge Mohd Soffian Abdul Razak would hear the application to determine whether his client could be made a party to the action.

“The intervener application by Meeriam is planked on the ground she has a legal interest,” he told reporters after a case management.

Ramesh said the application to intervene was filed on Dec 17.

Vell Paari filed a lawsuit early last month seeking an inquiry under Section 52 of the Mental Health Act to determine Samy Vellu’s state of mind.

He said Samy Vellu had been diagnosed with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease two years ago and was not mentally fit to defend himself in two legal cases filed against him.

In August, Meeriam filed a suit in the High Court in Ipoh against Samy Vellu and Vell Paari seeking a declaration that she be given due recognition and accepted as part of the family.

She also sought access to Samy Vellu with no restrictions imposed by any other family member, including Vell Paari.

She said Vell Paari had financially disempowered Samy Vellu and taken control of his finances since 2017.

Meeriam, 59, said she had been in a quasi-spousal union with the former Cabinet minister and had been engaged in an “ala-matrimonial” relationship since 1981 and had documentary evidence to support her claim.

Besides this, Meeriam is also seeking for Samy Vellu and Vell Paari to pay unpaid living costs to her amounting to RM191,107.35, which she claimed was owed to her when it was cut off since July last year.

She is also seeking a one-off payment of RM20 million as lifetime living costs, besides a monthly stipend of RM25,000.