SINGAPORE – Leader of the Opposition and Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh was charged on March 19 with two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee, two years after the police opened investigations into his conduct before the Committee of Privileges.

The charges relate to his testimony before the committee, which had been convened in November 2021 to look into a lying controversy involving his party’s former MP Raeesah Khan.

The committee called Singh as a witness, and said later he had not been truthful during the hearings while under oath. It recommended referring him and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap to the public prosecutor for further investigations with a view to consider criminal proceedings, which Parliament later endorsed.

Standing in the dock on March 19, Singh, who was unrepresented, pleaded not guilty to the two charges under Section 31(q) of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, and claimed trial.

The 47-year-old opposition leader requested a four-week adjournment to engage a lawyer. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for April 17.

Lying in response to questions posed by a parliamentary committee is considered a criminal offence under the Act, and carries a maximum fine of $7,000 and a jail term of up to three years, or both.

In response to media queries, an Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) spokesman said it is for the court to decide what the appropriate punishment should be if Singh is found guilty.

The spokesman added that the AGC will be asking the court to impose a fine for each of the charges if Singh is convicted. This is based on the “evidence presently available and considering the totality of the circumstances”, the spokesman said.

Political and legal experts told The Straits Times that the WP chief is unlikely to lose his parliamentary seat, even if he is convicted and the total fine for both offences exceeds $10,000 – the threshold upon which an MP faces disqualification from the House. This is as the threshold is for a single offence, rather than a group, to disqualify an individual convicted for offences of a certain magnitude, said law professor Eugene Tan.

In a joint statement, the AGC and police also said the prosecution has decided not to charge Mr Faisal for his refusal to answer relevant questions that had been put to him by the committee. The WP MP was issued an advisory by the police to familiarise himself with conduct expected of MPs under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, and to refrain from any act that may be in breach of it.

Singh arrived at the State Courts at 10.45am, clad in a black suit. When asked for comment after being charged, he said he would be releasing a statement later. He subsequently said he would continue with all his parliamentary duties and town council responsibilities until the legal process “comes to a complete close”.

The committee’s recommendation for Singh to be referred to the public prosecutor came after it investigated Ms Khan for lying in Parliament.

During a debate on empowering women on Aug 3, 2021, Ms Khan, then an MP for Sengkang GRC, had claimed to have accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station, where the victim was treated insensitively. She repeated the claim again in the House on Oct 4, 2021.

This was later found to be untrue, and Ms Khan eventually told Parliament on Nov 1, 2021, that she had been sexually assaulted herself and had heard about the victim’s experience at a support group session.

She resigned from the WP and her parliamentary seat on Nov 30, 2021.

In the charge sheets, Singh was said to have given a false answer to the committee’s questions on Dec 10 and 15, 2021.

On one occasion, he had said that after an Aug 8 meeting between him, Ms Khan and WP leaders Sylvia Lim and Faisal, he wanted Ms Khan to clarify that she had lied in Parliament on Aug 3.

On two other occasions, he had said that during a meeting with Ms Khan on Oct 3, he had asked her to come clean about her lie if the issue was brought up in the House on Oct 4.

The eight-member committee comprised seven People’s Action Party MPs and one WP MP. They were then Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Defence Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Law Rahayu Mahzam, Hougang MP and WP organising secretary Dennis Tan, and Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Don Wee.

After a total of 31 hours of hearings held over several weeks, the committee found Ms Khan guilty of abuse of privilege and recommended that she be fined a total of $35,000.

It also recommended that Singh and Mr Faisal be referred to the public prosecutor for further investigations – Singh for not being truthful in his testimony under oath, and Mr Faisal for his “flagrant and inexcusable” refusal to answer relevant questions.

Ms Lim had also been called as a witness by the committee, but was not referred for further investigations.

At the crux of the matter was the three months that elapsed before Ms Khan confessed in Parliament on Nov 1, 2021, to lying.

The committee concluded that Singh had played “the key and leading role” in advising her not to come clean after she first lied, and said he had lied when he asserted during the hearings that he had asked her to set the record straight in the House.

Singh has consistently denied the allegations. Though he acknowledged that he had given Ms Khan too much time to clarify the lie, he said he had done so as he was sympathetic to the fact that she had been a victim of sexual assault.

In its 1,180-page report presented to Parliament on Feb 10, 2022, the committee said it was beyond its purview to recommend that any penalty be imposed on Singh and Mr Faisal.

The committee added that while the default position is that Parliament should deal with matters that arise in a parliamentary context, it appeared best in this case that the matter “be dealt with through a trial process, rather than by Parliament alone”, given the seriousness of the two WP leaders’ actions.

In February 2022, after debating the committee’s report, Parliament voted in favour of the committee’s recommendation. The Attorney-General then referred both men to the police for investigation.

Political watchers and observers have been looking out for updates in the case, with some wondering about its implications for Singh’s political future and how it might impact the WP.

Singh had posted online in February 2022 about the prospect of losing his seat as an MP or being disqualified from standing for election, since this could happen if a person was jailed for at least one year or fined at least $2,000. The disqualification lasts for five years.

The Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act was amended in May 2022 such that an MP will be disqualified if convicted and fined at least $10,000 for an offence.