Controversy Unleashed: Indian Politician Pritam Singh Faces SGD 14K Fine for Perjury – Full Details Inside!
Pritam Singh, Singapore’s Leader of the Opposition of Indian origin, was fined SGD 14,000 on Monday by a district court after being found guilty of two counts of lying under oath to a parliamentary committee.
Singh faced a maximum fine of SGD 7,000 for each of his two charges.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the Leader of the Opposition announced that he will run for the general election in November.
According to the Constitution, if a sitting MP is imprisoned for at least one year or fined at least SGD 10,000, he will lose his seat and be barred from running for office again.
However, the Elections Department confirmed on Monday that Singh’s sentence does not meet the threshold for disqualification as an MP. It stated that disqualification is based on the sentence imposed for a single offence.
Singh stated in a Facebook post that he has instructed his legal team to file a notice of appeal and review the written judgement in greater detail.
Responding to media questions at the State Courts following the sentencing, Singh stated that he plans to run in the upcoming General Election in November of this year.
In 2021, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan convicted Singh on two charges of lying in the house in relation to another lying case involving Raeesah Khan, a former party member and MP.
Singh, 48, was found to have provided false testimony to a parliamentary committee investigating the actions of former Workers’ Party MP Raeesah Khan, who admitted to fabricating a story about accompanying a sexual assault victim to the police station.
Singh, secretary-general of the opposition Workers’ Party, was convicted on Monday.
“The court must send a message about the importance of giving truthful information when under oath,” the judge stated during the sentencing.
Judge Luke Tan agreed with both the prosecution and the defence that a jail sentence was not appropriate in Singh’s case.
Singh was accused of intentionally providing two false answers to the COP during its investigation into Khan’s case on December 10 and 15, 2021.
He was charged with false testimony in two cases.
On one occasion, he stated that following an August 8, 2021 meeting between himself, Khan, and WP leaders Sylvia Lim and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, he wanted Khan to clarify that she had lied in Parliament on August 3.
On two other occasions, he stated that during a meeting with Khan on October 3, 2021, he asked her to come clean about her lie if the matter was raised in the House on October 4, 2021.
On Singh’s first charge, Judge Tan stated that evidence showed that at the end of the meeting on August 8, 2021, the position was that Khan’s lie would not be mentioned and that the government would have a difficult time determining the truth due to the large number of police stations.
At the same time, Singh, a “political veteran,” was aware that the lie could lead to Khan being brought before the COP, citing the former’s position as the party’s secretary general and Leader of the Opposition.
The prosecution sought a maximum fine of SGD 7,000 for each charge. Singh’s trial started four months ago.
Singh faced up to three years in jail, a fine of up to SGD 7,000 (USD 5,290), or both for each charge, which would eventually disqualify him from running for Parliament and political office.
