Lawyer T Gunaseelan, who is representing the Chinese Language Council, the Tamil Language Association and Confederation of Former Tamil School Pupils, said he had obtained instruction from his clients to be made parties in the action.

“We will soon file our application although the plaintiff’s cause of action is lodged in the High Court in Kota Bharu,” he said.

The lawyer said he had also obtained a directive from his clients to apply for the suit filed by the plaintiff (Ikatan Guru Guru Muslim Malaysia) to be transferred to the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to be heard together with other similar actions filed here.

The plaintiff filed the suit last month and is challenging the constitutionality of Sections 17 and 28 of the Education Act and have named the education minister and the government of Malaysia as defendants.

The Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS), Majlis Pembangunan Pendidikan Islam Malaysia (Mappim) and Ikatan Guru-Guru Muslim Malaysia (I-Guru) last month filed similar suits here.

It was also discovered that Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia, or Isma, had also filed a similar cause of action here recently.

Aminuddin Yahaya, Isma’s president, is seeking an order that the two provisions in the Education Act, which allow the use of Chinese and Tamil languages as the medium of instruction in vernacular schools, are against Article 152 of the Federal Constitution.

Article 152 states that Bahasa Melayu is the national language of Malaysia.