Lim Tean Sues Commercial Affairs Department & Singapore Police Force For Contempt Of Court
When Lim Tean, defence lawyer for government critic Leong Sze Hian, was arrested unexpectedly in his office on Friday (2 Oct), the scene of him in handcuffs spread across social media.
Following a day at the police complex, Mr Leong posted bail for Mr Lim. The Peoples Voice leader has alleged that the arrest was politically motivated and revealed the circumstances of the cases he’s being investigated for.
Now, he’s taking the next step, by suing the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) which arrested him, for contempt of court.
On Tuesday (13 Oct), his lawyer M Ravi announced that he and his client has served papers for impending contempt of court proceedings against 5 people from the CAD.
Lim Tean sues CAD for contempt of court
In a public Facebook post by Mr Ravi on Tuesday (13 Oct), he stated that he has served papers to the Director of the CAD, IO Desmond Toh and three other officers who arrested Mr Lim.
Mr Ravi alleges that the arrest was motivated by Mr Lim’s imminent court hearing with lawyer Joseph Chen on Tuesday (27 Oct).
Mr Chen is suing Mr Lim for alleged embezzlement of money, a case which CAD is also investigating.
The papers served notify the 5 officers that they will proceed with a contempt of court lawsuit against their allegedly unlawful actions if they choose not to stop the investigations against Mr Lim.
Mr Lim is scheduled to attend an interview at the Cantonment Police Complex on Friday (16 Oct). Previously, he stated that he will not cooperate with CAD on the case.
Mr Ravi has asked CAD to reply to them by 5pm on Thursday (15 Oct).
Mr Ravi will proceed with a Judicial Review for his client if the CAD doesn’t reply by Thursday (15 Oct).
A Judicial Review is where the High Court will determine if a public body – in this case CAD – has acted unlawfully.
AGC has until 15 Oct to reply on contempt of court proceedings
The post continues, with papers similarly served to the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) asking if they plan to pursue contempt of court proceedings against the 5 officers.
AGC has been instructed to reply by 5pm on Thursday (15 Oct) as well.
If the AGC doesn’t reply, Mr Ravi will proceed with the lawsuit without any future notices to them.
A waiting game from Lim Tean to CAD
Although the hype surrounding Mr Lim’s arrest seemed to have died down, he maintains that CAD’s actions are unlawful. The police, meanwhile, claims that the arrest is lawful as Mr Lim allegedly refuses to attend any interviews at the police station.
We have reached out to the CAD for a statement, and will update this post with any replies.
In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait until 5pm on Thursday (15 Oct) to see what CAD will do. Regardless, we hope justice for this matter will see the light of day.
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