Former Maju Institute Education Development (MIED) chief executive officer P Chithirakala today filed three separate defamation suits.

She and her husband K Vasu named MIC president S Samy Vellu, his wife Indrani and the Tamil Nesan newspaper - which is owned by the party president - as defendants.

p chithirakala on mied 280209 02 Chithirakala, 38, filed the suit against Samy Vellu over his allegation that she had hijacked insurance money meant for MIED - which is MIC's education arm - and diverted it to a company owned by her husband.

For Indrani, she claimed the MIC president's wife made defamatory statements over her professional work and character which was published in Malaysiakini and also translated in Makkal Osai .

She named Tamil Nesan Sdn Bhd and its chief editor K Padmanabhan because the daily published a half-page editorial which had allegedly defamed her and her family's character.

The suits were filed through the firm Messrs Lewis & Co

Chithirakala is seeking an unspecified amount of general and specific damages.

She is also seeking aggravated damages, complete retraction of the defamatory statements, a public apology and an injunction to restrain them from publishing or repeating any of the similar statements against her.

Suit against Samy Vellu

Chithirakala is suing the MIC president for his alleged defamatory statements which insinuated that she had hijacked the Aimst university insurance coverage from United Oriental Assurance (which is owned by MIC investment arm Maika Holdings).

samy vellu exclusive on tamil schools 080708 06 She claimed that Samy Vellu had alleged that the fund for the insurance coverage was given to her husband.

She said the statement made by Samy Vellu had put Vasu in bad light and created the impression that her husband owned Jernih Insurance Bhd, where the funds were diverted to, and that she was negligent in her duties as CEO.

Chithirakala said Samy Vellu's statement meant that she had failed to discharge her duties as MIED CEO and cheated the Indian community of their monies. It also gave the impression that she and her husband had conspired to cheat MIED and the community.

The MIC president's statement had also insinuated that the couple were 'cheats, liars and thieves' and that she had unlawfully profited from her position as MIED CEO.

The former CEO who resigned in July this year claimed that Samy Vellu's statement also meant that they were unfit to hold public office or uphold the Indian community's interests and this had disparaged and injured their reputation.

Suit against Indrani

indrani interview 300909 As for Indrani, Chithirakala complained that in a Malaysiakini interview on Oct 1, 2009, Indrani had made comments to the effect which described her as being 'tainted, an animal, incompetent, unqualified to be MIED's CEO and had unlawfully profited from her position'.

Apart from this, she claimed that Indrani had also cast aspersions on her family background and character.

Furthermore, she said since the article also appeared in Tamil daily, Makkal Osai , it had soiled her reputation further.

She claimed that her demands in seeking a retraction fell on deaf ears.

Suit against Tamil Nesan

Regarding the Tamil Nesan article which appeared on Oct 1 as well, Chithirakala alleged that it had also painted a negative image of her.

She said the Tamil Nesan article had claimed that the result of her wealth was given by Samy Vellu, the MIED, and that the finance obtained were either through legal and unlawful means.

Chithirakala said the defamatory article also hinted that she was ungrateful and had begged Samy Vellu for help when she was faced with hardship.

'I want to clear my name'

After filing the suit, the former CEO said she was only interested in clearing her name and that of her family.

p chithirakala on mied 280209 03 "I also do not want this to happen to anybody else. Many things and accusations have been hurled against me and I am unable to respond as I do not want to prolong the matter further.

"Hence, I hope I can seek justice from the court to clear my name. I do not believe in stating any amount as it would be up to the courts to decide," she said, adding that she is presently unemployed.

She joined MIED in 1995 as an accountant and rose through the ranks and resigned as a chief controlling officer in 2002.

Chithirakala was hired back in 2004 by Samy Vellu and was appointed CEO before she resigned in July.