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©New Straits Times (Used by permission)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Gurdwara Council has applied to the High Court to intervene in a court case involving the use of the word "Allah" by Herald, a Catholic weekly publication.

Malaysian Gurdwara Council president Jagir Singh, who filed the application on Tuesday, said the word "Allah" was contained in the Sikh holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

In an affidavit that contained several references to the word in the holy book, he said the Sikh scripture was from God and that not a single word in it could be changed, amended or replaced. The application was filed by Messrs Jagjit Singh and Co.

If the application to be an intervener is granted, the council would be included as respondent in the judicial review.

The council, which represents the Sikh community, is the fifth party to apply to intervene in the matter.

The Penang, Terengganu, and Perak Islamic Religious Councils, Malay Customs Council and the Federal Territory Islamic Council had also applied to intervene in the case in May and June respectively.

They stated they had interest and it was within their jurisdiction to safeguard the interests of Muslims.

The case was brought up by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Murphy Pakiam, who was granted a judicial review on the use of the word in the Herald.

On March 19, Murphy had applied to declare that the Herald was entitled to use the word and that its use was not exclusive to Islam.

The archbishop, as publisher of the Herald, is an applicant in this action.

The internal security minister and the government are the first and second respondents respectively.

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