WP chief Pritam Singh seeks High Court trial over alleged lies to Parliament, cites S Iswaran's case

SINGAPORE — Opposition leader and Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh made a bid on Aug 26 to have his upcoming trial transferred to the High Court, citing the case of former transport minister S. Iswaran.

Singh, 48, faces two charges of lying to a parliamentary committee that was convened in November 2021 to look into the lying controversy involving his party's former MP Raeesah Khan.

A 16-day trial in the State Courts has been scheduled to take place between Oct 14 and Nov 13. The trial is slated to be presided over by Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan.

On Aug 26, Singh's lawyer, Andre Jumabhoy, made arguments to High Court Judge Hoo Sheau Peng in a bid to have the case transferred to the High Court.

He argued that it was "expedient for the ends of justice" for his client's case to be heard by the High Court.

Jumabhoy referred to the case of Iswaran, whose trial was transferred to be heard in the High Court on the application of the prosecution.

Iswaran, 62, faces a total of 35 charges in relation to his dealings with hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, and mainboard-listed Lum Chang Holdings' managing director David Lum.

Two of the charges are for corruption involving about $166,000, another 32 counts are for obtaining items worth more than $237,000 as a public servant, while one is for obstructing the course of justice.

Jumabhoy said the prosecution's key consideration in having a High Court judge hear Iswaran's case was that the section under which he is charged applies to a certain group of individuals, and therefore the decision in that case would impact others.

"We think the same argument applies to us," said Jumabhoy.

The lawyer argued that the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act extends beyond Singh, and applies to a certain group of people, namely MPs, and was "even more impactful than Iswaran's case".

Jumabhoy noted that this is the first prosecution of its kind, and a High Court judge would be better placed to hear the matter, although he stressed that this was no criticism of the State Courts.

"This is a singular and unique set of issues that warrants consideration by the High Court," he said.

In response, Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock said there can be no comparison between the two cases.

Ang said that there is strong public interest for Iswaran's case because he faces a slew of charges under section 165 of the Penal Code, which makes it an offence for a public servant to obtain items, for free or inadequate payment, from any person connected with his official duties.

The senior counsel noted that this law has wide application to a large group, ranging from junior civil servants to permanent secretaries to Supreme Court judges.

Ang said the reason why the prosecution asked for Iswaran's case to be transferred was because of the potential impact of the interpretation of the provision.

These considerations do not apply to Singh's case, said Ang.

He said the only issue in Singh's case is whether the prosecution can prove beyond reasonable doubt that he had lied while giving answers to the committee.

"It's a purely factual inquiry," said Ang.

Ang added that State Courts judges deal with prosecution of new offences all the time.

He also explained that "public interest" refers to what is in the public good, and not the fact that members of the public are interested in a case.

"The public is interested in all types of cases," said Ang. He cited the high-profile case involving the leaders of City Harvest Church, which did not warrant a transfer to the High Court. 

Ang also noted that Iswaran's case was transferred to the High Court under section 240 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which gives the prosecution the power to do so.

He told the court that on June 3, Singh's lawyers wrote to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), asking the prosecution to transfer his case under this provision.

The AGC replied on June 14 to say it was unable to accede to this request.

Ang said that if Singh disagreed with this, the correct process was to apply for a judicial review of the prosecution's decision.

Instead of doing so, his lawyers filed an application on July 23 to transfer his case under section 239 of the CPC.

Ang argued that under section 239, the onus was on Singh to show that he would likely not get a fair trial if his case is heard in the State Courts.

After hearing arguments, Justice Hoo adjourned the case to Sept 9 to give her decision.

Singh's charges stemmed from claims by Khan, then an MP for Sengkang GRC, in Parliament that she had accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station, where the victim was treated insensitively.

This was later found to be untrue, and on Nov 1, 2021, Khan admitted to lying in Parliament.

She resigned on Nov 30, 2021.

The parliamentary committee found Khan guilty of abuse of privilege and recommended that she be fined $35,000.

The committee also recommended referring Singh and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations.

According to his charges, Singh allegedly gave false answers to the committee's questions on Dec 10 and 15, 2021.

Faisal was not charged. He was issued an advisory by the police to familiarise himself with conduct expected of MPs and to refrain from any act that may be in breach of it.

Lying in response to questions posed by a parliamentary committee is considered a criminal offence under the Act, and carries a maximum fine of $7,000, or a jail term of up to three years, or both.

An AGC spokesman has said if Singh is convicted, the prosecution will be asking the court to impose a fine for each of his charges.

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