One of the country's popular Tamil dailies, Malaysia Nanban, returned to its full 16-page format today, amidst confusion over who was exactly in charge of its management.

On Thursday and Friday, it was published as an eight and 12-page newspaper respectively after a faction in the conflict ridden daily was locked out from the office.

Undeterred by the explusion, the group - which claimed to own the publication licence of the newpaper - was able to produce a scaled-down version of the daily over the past few days from a makeshift office a few doors away.

The hiccup experienced since Aug 31 was the result of newspaper licence owner Pernerbitan Sahabat (M) Sdn Bhd ceasing the editorial services of Edenline Sdn Bhd under controversial circumstances.

Details surrounding the controversy are still sketchy.

According to sources from Pernerbitan Sahabat, Edenline was only in charge of promotion, printing and distribution of the paper.

However, another source claimed that Edenline Sdn Bhd was the management company of the newspaper, as indicated on the signboard (top picture).

Sources from Edenline denied that the group aligned to Pernerbitan Sahabat was locked out from Nanban's office. Instead, it claimed that the group left voluntarily.

New office

The newspaper is presently being produced in a new office ( photo ) space not far from the Malaysia Nanban office with about 30 staff, some of whom are former Edenline employees.

It is learnt that the majority of Edenline staff, numbering around 80, are now out of a job as a result of the crisis.

Sources indicated a strong possibility that Edenline will initiate legal action against Pernerbitan Sahabat soon.