Pritam Singh struck off rolls after conviction for lying to parliamentary committee

Pritam Singh struck off the roll of advocates and solicitors after conviction for lying to parliamentary committee in 2021

Workers’ Party (WP) Secretary-General Pritam Singh has been struck off the rolls following his conviction for giving false evidence to a parliamentary committee.

The decision was made by the Court of Three Judges on Thursday (13 Aug), after the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) sought disciplinary action against the 50-year-old.

The Court of Three Judges is Singapore’s highest disciplinary body for lawyers.

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon presided over the hearing alongside Justice Kannan Ramesh and Justice See Kee Oon, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

Court says dishonesty was an integral part of offences

Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull, representing LawSoc, said Mr Singh had been convicted of two criminal charges involving false answers to the Committee of Privileges (COP).

The COP is the parliamentary body that looks into any complaint alleging breaches of parliamentary privilege.

Mr Bull argued that there was no doubt the offences involved dishonesty.

He also said Mr Singh should be treated in the same way as other lawyers convicted of offences involving dishonesty.

Mr Singh’s lawyers did not dispute that dishonesty was an essential element of the offences.

Chief Justice Menon said the application to strike Mr Singh off the rolls rested on his conviction for the wilful making of false statements to the COP.

According to CNA, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said that it is not disputed that dishonesty is an integral element of these offences.

He added that both LawSoc and Mr Singh agreed that the legal threshold for avoiding being struck off was not met in this case.

The judges subsequently ordered that Mr Singh be struck off the roll.

Pritam Singh accepts court outcome

Mr Singh’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Chelva Retnam Rajah, said his client was disappointed with the outcome of his trial and appeal but continued to respect the Singapore courts.

According to Mr Rajah, Mr Singh “unreservedly accepts” the outcomes of his trial and appeal, as well as their consequences.

Mr Rajah added that Mr Singh also wanted to emphasise that he “always tries his best to act in good faith, with sincerity” and would continue to do so “in whatever capacity that he has”.

Mr Singh was present at the Supreme Court for Thursday’s hearing but did not comment when approached by reporters outside.

Mr Singh convicted over evidence given to COP

The disciplinary proceedings stem from Mr Singh’s criminal conviction over evidence he gave to the COP.

The committee had been set up to investigate a false statement made in Parliament by former WP Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan.

Mr Singh was convicted in Feb 2025 of two charges of giving false answers to the COP. He was fined S$7,000 for each charge.

While he appealed against his conviction, the High Court upheld the convictions in Dec 2025.

The Law Society subsequently initiated disciplinary proceedings against him.

Mr Singh to pay S$5,808 in costs

The hearing concluded with both sides discussing the legal costs and disbursements.

LawSoc initially sought S$6,000 in costs, but said it would accept the S$3,000 proposed by Mr Singh’s lawyers.

Including disbursements, Mr Singh will pay a total of S$5,808, CNA reported.

Mr Singh remains the MP for Aljunied GRC and secretary-general of the WP.

He was elected to Parliament in 2011 and has led the opposition party since 2018.

Also read: Law Society applies to disbar Pritam Singh following court conviction, hearing on 13 Aug