Businessman settles defamation suit over allegations of inappropriate behaviour

SINGAPORE - A former board member of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), who was forced to step down following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, has settled a defamation suit he brought against two of its former executives.

Businessman Manokaran Chakrapani had sued SICCI's former chief executive Kumaran Barathan and former human resource manager Priya Rathini Rajan, accusing them of instigating the complaints made against him by female employees at a team meeting on May 6, 2019.

Mr Chakrapani alleged that the meeting was an "exercise to plant ideas into the minds of these vulnerable attendees", who were then "cajoled into expressions and thoughts of being abused".

He contended that the minutes of this meeting were defamatory.

The case was originally scheduled for a 16-day High Court trial that started last Friday (Feb 11).

But after half a day of hearing, with Mr Chakrapani taking the stand to be cross-examined, the trial was halted and parties began talks to resolve the matter out of court.

On Thursday (Feb 17), lawyers for the parties returned to court to inform the judge that the matter has been settled.

The matter was amicably resolved and the terms of the settlement are confidential, they told reporters.

Mr Chakrapani, who is married with three children, runs Mano Equestrian Services, which distributes products related to horses and other animals.

He has won many business awards, including Rising Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018, and was SICCI's honorary treasurer for the term 2018 to 2020.

Mr Chakrapani said he was "prematurely forced to vacate" his position on Aug 6, 2019.

He wanted the defendants to withdraw the alleged defamatory statements and publish written apologies in various newspapers. No quantum for damages was specified.

In his defence, Mr Barathan said he called for the meeting after a female employee complained that a board member had placed his hand "on her back/buttocks" during a photo-taking session at a golf tournament on May 3, 2019.

Mr Barathan said he had a duty to investigate the allegations and decided to hold the meeting to find out if there were other instances of inappropriate behaviour.

The matter was closed after the employees who spoke out said they did not wish to pursue the matter.

But word got out about the allegations and in July, Mr Barathan was instructed to circulate the minutes from the meeting to all 16 board members.

Ms Priya, who took minutes at the meeting, contended that she was merely following Mr Barathan's instructions and that the minutes reflected what was stated at the meeting.