Sacked MIC members to sue Tamil Nesan

By G Vinod

KUALA LUMPUR: Two sacked MIC officials are suing the Tamil Nesan, saying the daily defamed them when it said they opposed the party.

They said they were against party president S Samy Vellu, not the party itself.

They said Tamil Nesan, which is aligned to the MIC president, had disparaged them and that their lawyers would take action soon.

The two — former deputy youth leader V Mugilan and former central working committee member G Kumar Aamaan — alleged in a press statement that their expulsion from MIC violated the party’s constitution.

“Our expulsion was not in the spirit of Article 14.2.1, the very article that was used as grounds to expel us,” they said in the joint statement.

According to the article, a member is liable to be expelled if he or she “makes or is party to the making” of any press statement “on any matter concerning the party, party affairs or any member of the party which is detrimental to the party or is contrary to its policy or objectives.”Mugilan was expelled last month for asking Samy Vellu to resign by the end of the year instead of waiting until late next year as the party president had planned. Kumar was sacked for supporting Mugilan's call.

Last week, they both appealed for reinstatement in the party.

“We are part of a movement called Gerakan Anti Samy Vellu, which is against the stewardship of party president S Samy Vellu, not against the party itself,” they said.

“In what way is urging Samy Vellu to leave MIC going against the party policies or objective?

“In fact, we are trying to save the party from Samy Vellu, who is destroying the very fundamental principles of democracy that exist in the party,” their statement said.