Pritam Singh found guilty of lying to parliamentary committee

WP chief fined $7,000 for each of his two charges; judge says he 'wilfully' lied to Committee of Privileges

- Wong Pei Ting

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh has been fined a total of $14,000 after a district court found him guilty on two counts of lying under oath to a parliamentary committee.

Singh, who was fined the maximum of $7,000 for each of his two charges, said he will appeal.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the Leader of the Opposition said he "will be running for the general election".

The Constitution states that a sitting MP will lose his seat and be disqualified from standing for election if he is jailed for at least one year, or fined at least $10,000.

Responding to queries, the Elections Department confirmed that the sentence imposed on Singh does not reach the threshold to disqualify him as an MP.

It said disqualification is based on the sentence imposed for a single offence.

Delivering his judgment before a packed courtroom on Feb 17, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan ruled that Singh had "wilfully" lied to the Committee of Privileges (COP) about how he dealt with the untruth that former WP MP Raeesah Khan told in Parliament on Aug 3, 2021.

Ms Khan had lied about accompanying a sexual assault victim to a police station. She repeated the false claim before the House on Oct 4 the same year.

Singh never wanted Ms Khan to clarify her lie in Parliament when he met her on Aug 8, 2021, and on Oct 3, 2021, the judge said.

In meting out the maximum fine, Judge Tan said he agreed with the prosecution that the court must send a message of the importance of giving truthful information under affirmation or oath.

The judge noted the WP chief's motive in giving false information as one of the major considerations, and quoted the prosecution that "this was to protect (Singh's) political capital".

Adding that Singh had claimed trial, he said: "The fact remains that he never recanted the lie."