KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today ordered MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam to file his defence statement over a suit by former MIC strategic director K. Ramalingam and seven others, seeking the former’s removal.
Judge Datuk Yeoh Wee Siam ordered for him to file his defence before March 17 and fixed March 28 for case management.
On Feb 5, Ramalingam, V Ganesh, Datuk Henry Benedict Asirvatham, M Sathiyamurthu, George Alexander Fernandez, R M Prabu, R Sithambaran Pillay and V Rajoo filed the suit naming Subramaniam and seven others over an alleged conspiracy which toppled Datuk Seri G. Palanivel from the party's presidency last year.
MIC vice-presidents Datuk S. Vigneswaran, Datuk Jaspal Singh, and Datuk T. Mohan; party secretary-general A. Sakthivel; RoS director-general Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah; lawyer A. Vasanthi; and one Akmal Yahya were also named as the defendants in the suit.
They are seeking for the removal of Subramaniam who is also Health Minister from the MIC president's post, claiming that he misled the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over him having the support of the Indian community in Malaysia.
Among others, they are seeking for a declaration that the 2013 re-elections was null and void and of no effect.