A 28-year-old Singaporean who defaulted on his national service obligations by remaining overseas even after his permit to do so had expired, will have to serve 14 weeks in jail after his appeal against his conviction and sentence was dismissed on March 19.

A High Court panel of three judges rejected the man’s claim that he did not know he needed an exit permit to remain in India for his studies, because his late mother had been handling all the correspondence with the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) until late 2018.

Naresh Kumar Nagesvaran, who was born in Singapore, had left for India with his mother and sister in 2004 when he was seven years old.

The court was told that his Singaporean father had abandoned the family.

In 2009, when he turned 13 years old, a notice was sent to his last-known address in Singapore to inform him of his NS liability. It stated that he had to apply for a valid exit permit if he intended to remain overseas for longer than three months.

Naresh Kumar subsequently obtained exit permits for two consecutive periods, which allowed him to remain outside of Singapore.

The first, which was valid from Jan 30, 2010 to Jan 28, 2012, was applied for online.

The second exit permit was applied for over the counter at the CMPB in Singapore on Jan 3, 2012.

This permit was valid from Jan 29, 2012 to Sept 30, 2013.

He returned to Singapore only on April 7, 2019 – about 5½ years longer than he was allowed – and was arrested at the airport.

He started his national service later that year.

He was then charged over failing to return to Singapore by the period stipulated in the second exit permit.

Naresh Kumar, who was represented by Mr Suresh Damodara, claimed trial to the charge.

There are no earlier cases in law reports for this specific offence under the Enlistment Act.

In previous cases involving NS defaulters, the offenders were typically charged over leaving or remaining outside Singapore without an exit permit to begin with, or over not complying with an order to report for pre-NS procedures or activities.

Naresh Kumar contended that no one told him when he was 13 years old that he had NS obligations in Singapore, or that he had to obtain a valid exit permit to remain in India.

He claimed that he became aware of his NS obligations only in late 2018.

However, the prosecution presented evidence that Naresh Kumar had accompanied his uncle to CMPB on Jan 3, 2012 to apply for the second exit permit.

His travel records showed he was in Singapore from Dec 25, 2011 to Jan 10, 2012 – the period coincided with his application date.

Naresh Kumar insisted that he had remained outside the CMPB premises while his uncle went to the counter.

He also tried to distance himself from a letter that was sent to CMPB on Feb 18, 2014.

The letter, which was signed with his name, sought an extension of his exit permit.

He denied signing the letter and suggested that his name was written in his mother’s handwriting. His mother died in June 2019 after a long battle with cancer.

A legal question that arose in the case was whether the offence was one of strict liability. 

A strict liability offence is one where a person would be convicted as long as the prosecution can prove the act was committed, regardless of the person’s intent or knowledge.

In convicting him in 2023, district judge Luke Tan ruled that the offence was of strict liability in nature.

This meant the prosecution did not need to show Naresh Kumar was aware that he had to return to Singapore before his exit permit expired.

In any event, the district judge found that Naresh Kumar knew of his NS obligations as he had accompanied his uncle to CMPB and that he had signed the letter to the CMPB.

On March 19, a panel comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Tay Yong Kwang and Justice Vincent Hoong upheld the lower court’s decision.

Chief Justice Menon noted that it was incumbent on the defence to present expert evidence to support its claim that the Feb 18, 2014 letter was signed by someone else.

He added that the defence also did not call Naresh’s uncle to testify about the CMPB visit.

In response to queries, a Mindef spokesperson said that since the High Court set out the sentencing framework for NS defaulters in 2017, 29 defaulters, including Naresh Kumar, have been sentenced to imprisonment.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.