High Court dismisses application by M Ravi against K Shanmugam for alleged contempt of court

AGC said that the application had no legal basis.

Joshua Lee | November 17, 2021, 04:52 PM

The High Court has dismissed an application filed by law firm K K Cheng Law LLC on behalf of 17 plaintiffs seeking to commit the Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmugam, for alleged contempt of court.

The 17 plaintiffs are inmates on death row.

The application, which was filed on October 11, alleged that the minister committed contempt of court when he made comments about the case in Parliament during the debate on the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Bill on October 4.

What did the minister say?

Shanmugam had mentioned the application by 17 prisoners awaiting death row during a parliamentary debate:

"There is a case pending, an application by 17 prisoners awaiting capital punishment. They are making an application against the Attorney-General. They seek various reliefs against the Attorney-General. Various allegations have been made which the AGC considers to be completely scurrilous and without basis and being made to simply throw mud and stirred. That is the AGC's view."

Lawyer M Ravi posted about the application on his Facebook page on October 11, claiming that the minister's comment interfered with court proceedings.

AGC: Application has "no legal basis"

According to a media statement issued by the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) today (November 17), the AGC informed the High Court that the application had no legal basis.

"The High Court agreed with AGC and struck out the plaintiffs’ application on November 16, 2021," said the AGC, adding that it will be seeking personal costs of the application from both Ravi and the solicitor in charge, Cheng Kim Kuan.

M Ravi commented on the dismissal, saying that he received a document titled Contempt of Court.

He lamented about the "bullying" from the authorities and said that he would be filing a complaint to the United Nations.

Top image: The Online Citizen, Gov.sg/YouTube.