Singapore’s Indian-origin opposition leader Pritam Singh has applied to have his case heard in the High Court instead of state courts. Pritam Singh (48) has two charges of lying before a parliamentary committee. This parliamentary committee was formed in November 2021 to investigate the lie controversy involving his party’s former MP Raees Khan.
Raees Khan has resigned from Parliament. According to a report by television channel News Asia, Pritam Singh on Monday applied for a hearing of the case in the High Court. Pritam Singh’s lawyers Andre Darius Jumabhoy and Aristotle Emmanuel Eng cited the case of former Transport Minister S. Iswaran, which will be heard in the High Court next month.
Pritam Singh’s lawyers, citing the Iswaran case, said in their arguments that there is also public interest in having his case heard in the High Court. News Asia channel quoted Jumabhoy as saying that this is the first prosecution of its kind. A lawyer for Pritam Singh said, ‘This case reaches the core essence of our democracy.’
He referred to the speech given by the leader of the House, minister Indrani Raja, in February 2022 to send Pritam Singh’s case to the public prosecutor.
Pritam Singh had applied under section 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that the High Court can order the transfer of the hearing of the case for three reasons – a fair and unbiased trial cannot be held in any state court, a question of law of unusual difficulty is likely to arise, or it is necessary to transfer the case under the Code of Criminal Procedure or any other law.
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