Besides terming the attack against him as surprising, former MIC deputy president S Subramaniam refused to be drawn into a slugfest with party chief S Samy Vellu.

s subramaniam makkal osai pc 270807 statement Despite being quizzed several times on the motive behind the MIC president's recent outburst, he declined to read between the lines and chose to stick to the matter at hand - the injunction obtained against Maika Holdings from selling its cash cow Overseas Capital Assurance Bhd.

Maika Holdings is the debt-ridden investment arm of MIC headed by the president's son Vell Paari.

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Subramaniam refuted the charge of standing in the way of Maika Holdings disposing its most prized asset to reimburse its vexed shareholders.

The injunction was filed by Nesa Cooperative, which is linked to the former deputy president.

Subramaniam stressed that neither Nesa nor him have been opposed to the sale of the company at any point of time, and this was expressed in a letter to Maika Holdings on Aug 24, 2007.

Several measures outlined

However, he said Nesa cited several measures which must be undertaken before proceeding with the sale.

"One is to have an independent financial evaluation of the shares to be sold. Two, based on the evaluation, competitive bids should be invited from interested parties both in Malaysia and abroad. Third, the sale must be handled by independent parties to be decided by the Maika board.

"And before selling, the right of first refusal should be given to an Indian-owned company, an Indian individual or organisation, including cooperatives. This is what we wrote in the letter and we have stuck to that," he added.

maika holdings berhad Subramaniam said the injunction was also obtained on the same grounds.

"The injunction was obtained on March 10, 2008. But soon after that, I once again reiterated Nesa's decision to withdraw the injunction if the above matters were done.

"The injunction was taken in the interest of the shareholders and Nesa Cooperative (which is also a shareholder). It was not done for political purposes," he added.

Even in last November, Subramaniam said he expressed Nesa's preparedness to withdraw the injunction.

"I am not going to let the community suffer for political interests," added the 64-year-old politician who would be attempting to reclaim the number two slot in September which he lost to incumbent G Palanivel in the 2006 party elections following a bitter campaign punctuated by scathing attacks.

Many interpretations have been drawn

On Saturday, Samy Vellu had lashed out at Subramaniam over the OCAB affair, with Palanivel seated by his side.

samy vellu exclusive on tamil schools 080708 06 Describing it as a thorn in the party's ties with the Indian community, the president claimed that the injunction prevented Maika Holdings from selling the company to a prospective buyer who had since withdrawn its bid after the injunction was not lifted by Nesa Cooperative.

Observers had viewed the incident as Samy Vellu's tacit endorsement for Palanivel to remain as his deputy and heir since the president also took a swipe at another aspirant S Sothinathan at the same function.

However, when posed with the question, Subramaniam said many interpretations have been drawn and Samy Vellu is the person who should explain the reason behind his remarks.

"For the moment, I would say that this question should be directed to Samy Vellu. I don't know if he is fully aware of all the details (concerning Maika Holdings)," he added.

When pressed further on whether it was related to the deputy presidency race, he replied: "That is just an interpretation. I cannot comment on that. There are many spin-offs from that statement. I don't have to explain all that at this juncture."

"But I am interested in explaining the Maika issue because 66,000 shareholders are involved and their money has to be returned and they should get the best price," he added.

Twenty-four hour rejection

Meanwhile, Subramaniam said the original price offered for OCAB before the injunction was RM129 million.

"But after the general election, Vell Paari with the cooperation of a Maika director and I... there was enough cooperation on both sides and we looked for a new buyer. An offer of RM149 million was made on July 2008 (by another company).

"The offer letter was dated July 31 and the rejection letter by Maika was done within 24 hours without me knowing about it. The rejection was over some condition that Maika was not able to accept," he added.

Subramaniam explained that he decided to be 'friendly' with all quarters after the general election because he chose to put the party and community's interest above self-interest.

vell paari vellpaari "I was prepared to forget all that was done in the past. We both, Samy Vellu and I...I extended my assistance to help build unity in the party.

"I also worked very closely with his son and the other directors of Maika purely with the intention of selling the insurance company as soon as possible," he said, adding that he repeatedly assured that if there is a buyer, the injunction could be rescinded.

According to Subramaniam, it was the economic downturn which had forced the original prospective buyer Salcon Bhd to withdraw its offer.

"The subsequent buyer (Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd) was rejected. I think there are still suitors for the insurance company.

"Vell Paari had said a few days ago that there is a new offer at RM150 million. About a week ago, he informed me about it. The buyer was advised to write to Bank Negara to seek permission to start negotiations," he said.

Subramaniam stated that he feels 'sentimental' about Maika Holdings because he was one of the original four subscribers when the investment arm was formed in 1982.

"Thereafter, Nesa and I had nothing to do with the operations and businesses of Maika Holdings. We only came into the picture in 2007 regarding the sale of OCAB," he said.