A High Court judge in Singapore on Friday ( Jul 19 ) rejected former transport minister S Iswaran’s request to require the prosecution to provide the transcripts of all of its witnesses.
The attorneys for Iswaran, led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, had now lost their next case in a criminal update hearing on July 5. This was their second time.
Justice Vincent Hoong noted that there was nothing in the Criminal Procedure Code’s language to help the defense’s claim that the trial is required to release all document statements of witnesses who do not want to mark off on conditioned claims.
Justice Hoong also rejected the defense’s claim that the defendant’s actions have been a major injustice or a process abuse.
The announcement comes about a fortnight before Iswaran is scheduled to go on trial in the High Court for his legal fees. CNA is aware that his test will start on August 13.
Problem cases are typically heard in state judges, but the trial had safely requested that this one been heard in the High Court in March.
The 62-year-old Singaporean is accused of 35 counts, including 32 counts of obtaining goods as a common servant, two counts of problem, and one of obstructing justice.
These involve his connections with home magnate Ong Beng Seng and managing chairman of Singapore-listed Lum Chang Holdings, Mr. Lum Kok Seng.
Neither Mr Ong nor Mr Lum have been charged, with the Attorney-General’s Chambers ( AGC ) previously saying that they would take a decision over the investigations against both men after Iswaran’s case has been completed.
Mr. Singh had requested that the trial make available to the defense all conditioned statements, which are written statements that have been used as evidence in a court case, during the fugitive revision reading.
If never, he asked for “draft” comments or all written comments from the trial testimony.
He claimed that his customer was being targeted, creating a “discrimination against” situation for him.  ,
The experienced attorney also asserted that the trial originally wanted to move forward with Mr. Lum’s case first, so it was only appropriate to give the defense conditioned statements.
However, the prosecution took the position for the first time that they were not required to provide conditioned remarks after the defense was granted its request for all costs to be heard together in one test.
The trial, led by Deputy Attorney-General and Senior Counsel Tai Wei Shyong, said the army was mischaracterising the lawyer’s place and that the army was the one changing its place.
Iswaran resigned from his federal jobs two weeks before his initial court appearance in January.
Prior to this, he was given a leave of absence while the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau looked into the case.
If convicted of obtaining a significant factor as a public servant, Iswaran can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
If convicted of corruptly obtaining gratification under the Prevention of Corruption Act, he can be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to S$ 100, 000 ( US$ 74, 400 ), or both.
If convicted of obstructing justice, he may be jailed for up to seven decades, fined, or both.