Court to decide on ex-MIED chief's passport on June 14 .

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court has set June 14 to decide on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) application to impound the passport of ex-MIED chief executive officer P Chitirakala. Judge Azizah Mahamud fixed the date after hearing submissions from DPP Kevin Morais from MACC and Chitirakala, who is representing herself, today.In his submission, Morais said he did not make the application on May 11 – when Chitirakala was charged with three counts of cheating – because she had cooperated with the investigating officers.

"Until that day (May 11), MACC did not have any basis to impound her passport or restrict her from travelling,” he added.
However, Morais said the situation changed on May 14 after MACC received credible information from a source that the accused is planning to fly to India and had no intention of returning.
He added that Chitirakala was informed of the application, but she went ahead with her plan and called for a press conference when she was barred from leaving the country at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on May 19.Morais also highlighted a contradiction where the accused told reporters on May 19 that she wanted to go on a vacation but in her affidavit, Chitirakala stated that she wanted to visit a temple in India."This contradiction raised our suspicion and the respondent also did not answer the issue in her affidavit,” he said, urging the court to allow the application.
'Many temples in India'

Meanwhile, Chithirakala, clad in a red saree, told the court that she had informed MACC in writing on May 10 regarding her intention to travel to India, and there was no objection.
Refering to her affidavit, Chithirakala, who was accompanied by her father to court, said she was only told about the application late in the evening on May 17 and was not provided a valid reason.“There are many temples in India, and I did not want the flight ticket which I booked in April to go to waste. I was not in a hurry to leave the country as alleged by the DPP,” she said.At this point, Judge Azizah interjected, saying she was aware that India had many temples and instructed the accused to focus on the issue raised by the DPP.
Chitirakala also said that she was not told who was the source that alerted the MACC about her alleged escape plan since the source is protected under Section 65 of the MACC Act 2009.She added that she was in the dark as to why the prosecution wanted to impound her passport now instead of filing an application on May 11.Chithirakala, 39, is facing three counts of cheating involving RM4 million belonging to MIED or Maju Institute of Educational Development, the education arm of MIC.
Chitirakala and MIC president S Samy Vellu have accused each other of wrongdoings in MIED, leading to a series of reports being filed with the authorities.

Source from : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/