Kuala Lumpur, Jan 27- Just two months after being appointed as the MIC treasurer-general, R Ramanan today tendered his resignation from the post effective today.
Confirming this to FMT, Ramanan said he made the decision after taking into account the interest of the party and to protect party chief G Palanivel from being attacked for appointing him to the position.
Last week, the High Court here ordered Ramanan to return RM5.5 million to psychiatrist Dr M Mahadevan, which he had fraudulently received while “assisting” the psychiatrist to recover a payment from the Defence Ministry, four years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Lee Heng Cheong in his decision said he agreed with Dr Mahadevan’s counsel that Ramanan had fraudulently misrepresented himself to the plaintiff, resulting in him to transfer the money into the defendant’s personal account on May 19, 2010.
Ramanan was ordered to pay the money within 14 days, but following his application, the court allowed an interim-stay of execution, pending an application today.
The MIC is expected to hold its first central working committee meeting on Feb 6, the first following the party’s election on Nov 30 last year.
Palanivel had announced last week that Ramanan’s position would be discussed at the CWC meeting.
Stopping speculation
Meanwhile Ramanan told FMT his resignation would also put an end to “irresponsible parties” speculating on the case and blowing it out of proportion.
“I love this party and respect the president who appointed me. I do not want others using my issue to attack the president,” he added.
On his civil case, Ramanan said he has appealed against the High Court ruling but declined to divulge further.
“People can speculate but I don’t want to comment anything on the case as it will be a sub-judice.
“As you know, I have appealed the decision and it will be a contempt of court to discuss the matter openly,” he said.
Ramanan said he was disappointed that some parties had used his case to wage personal attacks against him.
When asked on his replacement for the treasurer’s, Ramanan said that was the prerogative of the president.
-FreeMalaysiaToday
