Philanthropist P Thiagarajan has filed a RM500 million defamation suit against Maika Holdings chief executive officer S Vell Paari for allegedly implicating him in the death of a lawyer.

The suit was filed by his lawyer K Saraswathy at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry today. It was filed in the run-up to the MIC elections this weekend.

Klang-based Thiagarajan, 55, said he decided to sue Vell Paari after the latter had failed to retract his allegations which were made in his family-owned Tamil Nesan.

NONE He named Vell Paari, who is son of MIC president S Samy Vellu, along with Tamil Nesan Sdn Bhd and its chief editor K Pathmanabhan as defendants.

Thiagarajan, who is also the Makkal Sakthi party advisor, claimed that he commands a good standing among the Indian community by running business and industries. He added that the OMS group which he runs is well known for its social obligations in rendering financial assistance to the needy.

He claimed that Vell Paari had written two 'false' articles with bad intention in Tamil Nesan on August 2, and August 4, 2009.

The two articles meant that he (Thiagarajan) was a liar and had implicated him in the sudden death of lawyer P Selvarani, who was previously attached to Hindu Rights Action Force legal advisor P Uthayakumar's law firm.

Selvarani died by accidently falling from her high rise condominium in Jalan Klang Lama, in 2007, a day before the death of model and actress K Sujatha.

Thiagarajan, who is considered to be part of the former party deputy president S Subramaniam's camp, also alleged the articles meant that he had tried to shift the people's attention from Selvarani's death into Sujatha's death which was played up by another Tamil daily Makkal Osai .

He also claimed the publication meant that he had used Kapar MP S Manickavasagam to make a false police report against Vell Paari and former Sentul OCPD over Sujatha's death.

Article put Thiagarajan in bad light

The businessman also alleged that the publication had painted him as a criminal, a murderer and a traitor to the community.

He also denied that he had paid Selvarani's wages on Uthayakumar's request, as alleged by the Vell Paari articles.

"Furthermore, efforts to ridicule me by the defendants was a result of the coming MIC elections this weekend," Thiagarajan said in his statement of claim.

NONE Thiagarajan also claimed the article had also accused him of playing a role in defeating MIC candidates during the March 2008 general election.

He denied all the allegations made in the two articles and claimed that it had tarnished his reputation and good standing.

He is seeking an injunction from the court to bar the three defendants from repeating and printing the defamatory statements.

Thiagarajan also wants a court order against the first defendant to withdraw the defamatory publication and to make a public apology published in Tamil Nesan .

The philanthropist is seeking RM500 million general damages for libel, damages for their bad intention, and conspiracy. He is also seeking exemplary and aggravated damages.

Thiagarajan's aide AG Thilagan who was present at the filing said the philanthropist had to file the suit as the articles had tarnished his image.

"The lawyers had written to them asking for a retraction and an apology but to no avail. This has resulted in Thiagarajan to take this step of taking this legal avenue."