Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin need not step down from his position over the RM100 million corruption probe plaguing his ministry, said MIC Youth chief C Sivarraajh.

This is because Khairy has already accepted full responsibility for the scandal, Sivarraajh said.

"It is an allegation against a senior official who has covertly siphoned off the funds. Therefore action must be taken against this particular official.

"Khairy is not running away from his responsibilities as a minister like some who pose lame excuses and reasons to run away from allegations," he said in a statement last night.

Sivarraajh ( photo ) said he also concurred with Khairy that the investigation into the RM100 million scandal must not be tampered with.

"So, I strongly urge the public to not throw baseless accusations and just let Khairy to do the needful and perform his responsibility.

"I'm sure he will correct what went wrong and cooperate with the authorities in this investigation to rectify this issue," he said.

The MACC had previously revealed that it has arrested nine persons on March 17, who are believed to be part of a syndicate involved in misappropriating RM100 million in state funds.

Among them was a suspect described as a 56-year old division secretary, who is said to have masterminded the scheme and pocketed RM20 million in kickbacks.

The group is said to have been active since 2010.

Khairy has taken full responsibility for the scandal, saying that it is his responsibility to make sure the investigation goes smoothly.

“It is very important that I take responsibility. As the minister in charge, I have the responsibility to ensure that all process are fixed and corrected.

“My duty is to make sure an investigation is done properly and resolved,” he said yesterday.