{"id":17374,"date":"2025-12-06T18:21:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T10:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=17374"},"modified":"2025-12-06T18:21:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T10:21:40","slug":"pritam-singh-loses-appeal-against-conviction-key-points-from-the-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=17374","title":{"rendered":"Pritam Singh loses appeal against conviction: Key points from the case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE &#8211;<!-- --> Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh lost the appeal against his conviction, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/high-court-upholds-wp-chief-pritam-singhs-conviction?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">the court upholding the sentence of $14,000 in fines.<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh, 49, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/wp-chief-pritam-singh-fined-7000-for-each-of-two-charges-after-conviction-for-lying-to-committee?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">was convicted on Feb 17<\/p>\n<p><\/a> on two charges for lying to the Committee of Privileges (COP) about<!-- --> the role that he had played in<!-- --> advising former WP MP Raeesah Khan to conceal an untruth to Parliament. <!-- -->He had appealed against the conviction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On Dec 4, Court of Appeal Justice Steven Chong said that while he disagreed with Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan<!-- -->\u2019s assessment<!-- --> on some aspects<!-- --> of the evidence<!-- -->, <!-- -->he ultimately found that <!-- -->the decision to convict Mr Singh<!-- --> on both charges<!-- --> was supported by the evidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Here are the key points of the judgment:<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Ms Khan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/politics\/wp-mp-raeesah-khan-referred-to-parliament-privileges-committee-for-lying-about?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">lied in Parliament on Aug 3, 2021,<\/p>\n<p><\/a> She had fabricated an anecdote<!-- --> that <!-- -->falsely claimed <!-- -->she had accompanied a rape victim to make a police report, and that officers handling the case had exhibited inappropriate behaviour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">She told Mr Singh<!-- -->, the Leader of the Opposition,<!-- --> that it was a lie over a phone call on Aug 7, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">She repeated the lie in Parliament on Oct 4 that year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">She admitted to Parliament on Nov 1, 2021, that she had been lying, and the matter was referred to the COP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The COP proceedings focused on Ms Khan\u2019s conduct, with Mr Singh appearing before the committee to give evidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The committee\u2019s report was presented to Parliament on Feb 10, 2022, recommending that Mr Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor to consider if he should be prosecuted for his conduct before the COP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh was charged on March 19, 2024, for lying to the COP and was convicted almost a year later.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh fined $14,000 for lying to Parliament\u2019s Committee of Privileges\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UwazsuycQn8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The appeal looked largely at <!-- -->the findings of Judge Tan in relation to <!-- -->two statements made by Mr Singh<!-- --> to Ms Khan<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Each of the statements corresponded to the two charges against him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The first was the \u201cGrave Statement\u201d, where Mr Singh told Ms Khan on Aug 8, 2021, to take the untruth \u201cto the grave\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">This was at a meeting attended by Ms Khan and Mr Singh, and WP members Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">During the meeting, Ms Khan told the others she had lied, following which Mr Singh made the Grave Statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The first charge Mr Singh faced related to how he had lied to the COP saying he had wanted Ms Khan to clarify the untruth after their meeting on Aug 8, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The court\u2019s judgment on this was based on whether he had indeed made the Grave Statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">By making the Grave Statement, it would mean he did not want Ms Khan to clarify the untruth, and would have thus lied to the COP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh had denied making the statement, but the courts found that the evidence showed he did indeed make it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The second statement in question was the \u201cJudgment Statement\u201d, where Mr Singh told Ms Khan, \u201cI will not judge you\u201d, when they met on Oct 3, 2021.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"landscape inline-media-wrapper\" data-testid=\"inline-media-test-id\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-start relative w-fit\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/de091fa8357e87b1fb020855159397fbc55b59007c318ec0a305bc907ec65101?w=480\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 720px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/de091fa8357e87b1fb020855159397fbc55b59007c318ec0a305bc907ec65101?w=720\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 721px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/de091fa8357e87b1fb020855159397fbc55b59007c318ec0a305bc907ec65101?w=900\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/de091fa8357e87b1fb020855159397fbc55b59007c318ec0a305bc907ec65101\" alt=\"\" class=\"aspect-landscape flex items-start shrink-0 object-cover landscape article-landscape mobile:w-auto tablet:w-auto\" data-testid=\"image-test-id\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"mobile:mx-16 tablet:mx-00 flex flex-col gap-08 py-16 desktop:pb-24\">\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-secondary\" data-testid=\"inline-media-caption-test-id\">Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh lost the appeal against his conviction, with the court upholding the sentence of $14,000 in fines. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-placeholder\" data-testid=\"inline-media-credit-test-id\">ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">That day, Mr Singh had visited Ms Khan at her home. They spoke about what Ms Khan ought to do regarding the lie she had told.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">While it was accepted by all parties that Mr Singh had indeed made the statement, what was in dispute was its context and meaning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The second charge Mr Singh faced was for lying to the COP that he had wanted Ms Khan to clarify the lie if it came up in Parliament on Oct 4, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">To determine if he did indeed lie regarding this, the courts sought to determine the context and meaning of the Judgment Statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The judges reasoned that if Mr Singh\u2019s intention in making the statement to Ms Khan was to not judge her if she continued to maintain the lie, then it would mean that he lied to the COP about intending for her to clarify it in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong added that this would mean Mr Singh would have, at best, been indifferent to the need for clarification.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh claimed he told Ms Khan that she would have to take \u201cownership and responsibility\u201d before saying \u201cI will not judge you\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said this meant he would not judge Ms Khan if she took ownership and responsibility in relation to the untruth, and this meant clarifying it in Parliament.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong found that Judge Tan\u2019s decision to convict Mr Singh was supported by the evidence, even though he did not agree with \u201csome peripheral aspects\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">With regard to the first charge, <!-- -->Justice Chong said an important contextual fact was that at the meeting with Ms Lim and Mr Manap on Aug 8, 2021, Ms Lim had said the lie would probably not come up again in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh appeared to share the same sentiment<!-- -->, as he did not expressly disagree or say anything to distance himself from it<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">With this context in mind, Justice Chong said the <!-- -->various pieces of <!-- -->evidence showed that Mr Singh did not want Ms Khan to clarify the untruth<!-- --> as at Aug 8, 2021<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The evidence included Ms Khan\u2019s message<!-- --> that she sent<!-- --> to WP members Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathan shortly after the meeting<!-- --> on Aug 8, 2021<!-- -->, telling them about the Grave <!-- -->Statement<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u2018I respect and accept the judgment\u2019: Pritam Singh loses appeal against conviction\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MnKP0yaktxQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh\u2019s inaction after the meeting <!-- -->was <!-- -->also <!-- -->given weight, as he did not follow up with Ms Khan or the other WP leaders on the untruth for two months. It was this conduct that <!-- -->served as evidence that his understanding <!-- -->at the time <!-- -->was that the untruth did not need to be proactively clarified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong said: \u201cBecause of (Mr Singh\u2019s) belief that Ms Khan\u2019s lie was unlikely to surface again, he did not think that there was any need to rock the boat by volunteering the truth.<!-- --> (He) had therefore made a false statement to the COP when he claimed otherwise.<!-- -->\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">For the second charge, <!-- -->Justice Chong agreed with Judge Tan that the Judgment Statement would make sense only if Mr Singh was telling Ms Khan that he would not look poorly on or disapprove of her for taking a certain course of action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He noted that the phrase \u201cI will not judge you\u201d is a form of reassurance, said when it is believed that the recipient <!-- -->of the phrase <!-- -->may do something typically said to be wrong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">It was also established that the decision to clarify <!-- -->the untruth <!-- -->was taken only after <!-- -->a <!-- -->meeting <!-- -->between Mr Singh, Ms Lim and <!-- -->former WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang on Oct 11, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Low was told they were considering clarifying the untruth by holding a press conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Low had then advised them to have Ms Khan clarify the untruth in Parliament instead, irrespective of whether the Government could uncover it<span class=\"uppercase\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Hence, this showed Mr Singh had not yet decided to clarify the untruth in Parliament<!-- --> prior to that<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong said <!-- -->that by extension, <!-- -->it must follow that Mr Singh\u2019s testimony to the COP that he had wanted to convey to Ms Khan that she should clarify the untruth at the meeting on Oct 3, 2021, was untrue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">There were two points where Justice Chong did not agree with Judge Tan\u2019s assessment.<!-- --> This, however, did not impact the proving of the two charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The first was how Judge Tan had given weight to Ms Loh\u2019s evidence regarding what was discussed during a meeting on Aug 10, 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh had met Ms Loh and Mr Nathan at the Aljunied Town Council headquarters that day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Before Mr Nathan arrived, Ms Loh spoke to Mr Singh and made reference to Ms Khan\u2019s sexual assault by sharing details on sexual assault survivors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Ms Loh had testified that she asked Mr Singh if Ms Khan\u2019s anecdote would be followed up in Parliament, and that he appeared to nod his head and affirm it probably would not.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"landscape inline-media-wrapper\" data-testid=\"inline-media-test-id\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-start relative w-fit\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/095cdceaa3360796450ebcc8e54c46ec2faf84d2b87329a0b9c1520f6692cf8b?w=480\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 720px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/095cdceaa3360796450ebcc8e54c46ec2faf84d2b87329a0b9c1520f6692cf8b?w=720\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 721px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/095cdceaa3360796450ebcc8e54c46ec2faf84d2b87329a0b9c1520f6692cf8b?w=900\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/095cdceaa3360796450ebcc8e54c46ec2faf84d2b87329a0b9c1520f6692cf8b\" alt=\"\" class=\"aspect-landscape flex items-start shrink-0 object-cover landscape article-landscape mobile:w-auto tablet:w-auto\" data-testid=\"image-test-id\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"mobile:mx-16 tablet:mx-00 flex flex-col gap-08 py-16 desktop:pb-24\">\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-secondary\" data-testid=\"inline-media-caption-test-id\">(From left) Former WP MP Raeesah Khan and former WP cadres Loh Pei Ying and Yudhishthra Nathan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-placeholder\" data-testid=\"inline-media-credit-test-id\">ST PHOTOS: KELVIN CHNG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">However, she also said her recollection was \u201cfuzzy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong said this made it unsafe to attach weight to the evidence regarding Mr Singh\u2019s alleged response that day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">A second aspect Justice Chong doubted was Judge Tan\u2019s findings concerning Ms Loh and Mr Nathan\u2019s deletion of messages<!-- --> from their phones<!-- -->. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The duo had deleted several messages from their group chat, which had been brought up as evidence<!-- --> during proceedings<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"landscape inline-media-wrapper\" data-testid=\"inline-media-test-id\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-start relative w-fit\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/763198267e34b96ffae281d39af9be70bfb7713f411a0bb7b51f237dae454f45?w=480\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 720px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/763198267e34b96ffae281d39af9be70bfb7713f411a0bb7b51f237dae454f45?w=720\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 721px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/763198267e34b96ffae281d39af9be70bfb7713f411a0bb7b51f237dae454f45?w=900\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/763198267e34b96ffae281d39af9be70bfb7713f411a0bb7b51f237dae454f45\" alt=\"\" class=\"aspect-landscape flex items-start shrink-0 object-cover landscape article-landscape mobile:w-auto tablet:w-auto\" data-testid=\"image-test-id\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"mobile:mx-16 tablet:mx-00 flex flex-col gap-08 py-16 desktop:pb-24\">\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-secondary\" data-testid=\"inline-media-caption-test-id\">Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh at the Supreme Court on Dec 4. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-placeholder\" data-testid=\"inline-media-credit-test-id\">ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Judge Tan appeared to have accepted that they deleted their messages due to a fear that their phones had been hacked<!-- -->, rather than a desire to conceal their roles and actions<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong, however, said the selective manner in which some of the messages were deleted <!-- -->while others were not, <!-- -->raised questions<!-- --> as to the strength of Judge Tan\u2019s findings on the matter<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">But he also noted that this had no effect on the more crucial findings<!-- --> with regard to the Judgement Statement having been communicated to them<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Mr Singh did not call some of the other WP leaders as witnesses, even though they had attended some material meetings with him. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong noted that no adverse inference had been drawn from this.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said: \u201cI will say no more, save to express that it is curious that the appellant did not avail himself of seemingly available evidence which may have served as corroboration of his account of events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In concluding the judgment, Justice Chong said that in the two months from the time Ms Khan told Mr Singh she had lied till it was decided she should clarify the untruth, Mr Singh was hoping that he would not have to deal with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThe appellant was confronted with an inconvenient truth: A sitting MP from his party had told the untruth, an unsolicited lie,\u201d he said. \u201cThe WP leaders, including the appellant, were trying to manage the risks of admitting to the untruth.<!-- --> It was for this reason that the WP leaders were examining issues like \u2013 would the untruth be raised again in Parliament? Would the Government be able to discover the untruth?<!-- -->\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said the WP leaders were essentially engaged in an exercise of risk assessment and damage control, and that right till the end, it was never Mr Singh\u2019s position that Ms Khan would come clean.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">At most, Mr Singh wanted to clarify the lie only if it was raised in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Justice Chong pondered on what would have happened if the matter had indeed not been raised in Parliament again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said: \u201cIt appears to me that the appellant\u2019s approach in that scenario would have been to let sleeping dogs lie; that is, that there was no need to resurrect the issue if it was already \u2018buried\u2019. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cAlas, that was not to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\"><b>Correction note:<\/b> In an earlier version of the story, Mr Yudhishthra Nathan\u2019s name was misspelled. This has been corrected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/pritam-singh-loses-appeal-against-conviction-key-points-from-the-case\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE &#8211; Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh lost the appeal against his conviction, with the court upholding the sentence of $14,000 in fines. Mr Singh,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}