Law Grad Denied Admission to Bar for Not Revealing Past Plagiarism

Name Not Redacted in Republished Grounds of Decision by CJ Following Psychiatric Report

- Selina Lum

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon has named a law graduate who asked for anonymity after she was denied admission to the Bar over her failure to disclose past incidents of plagiarism.

The identification of Ms Pulara Devminie Somachandra came more than three months after Chief Justice Menon published a written decision in April with her identity temporarily withheld pending a psychiatric report.

On Aug 7, after considering the report, the Chief Justice republished his written grounds of decision in full, without redacting her name.

"The principle of open justice is the predominant and overriding interest in this case and there are insufficient grounds for departing from it," he said in a separate judgment to explain why he lifted the anonymisation.

Open justice refers to the principle that court proceedings are generally conducted in public to promote transparency and ensure that justice must not only be done, but also should be seen to be done.

Chief Justice Menon said that in proceedings involving the legal profession, the default rule that the identities of litigants must be made public is of great importance.

"Open and public proceedings provide a forum for the character of applicants to be scrutinised transparently," he said, adding that this is important as lawyers are tasked with the responsibility of assisting the court in the administration of justice.