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The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has filed committal orders against lawyer M Ravi for contempt of court in connection with his conduct during two separate court proceedings before the High Court and the State Courts in November 2021.
According to a press release by the AGC, the two cases in question are the lawsuit filed by former bus driver Chua Qwong Meng against SBS Transit at the High Court, and a criminal prosecution involving Magendran Muniandy at the State Courts. CNA reported that Muniandy is a Malaysian accused of forging multiple documents.
What did Ravi do?
The AGC noted that Ravi had acted in the following manner which was contemptuous of the respective courts by, among other things:
- Making unfounded allegations of bias against the judges;
- Persistently interrupting the judges in the course of the proceedings;
- Taking legal positions in the lawsuit against SBS Transit without obtaining or confirming his client’s instructions; and
- Misrepresenting his availability to conduct the proceedings in Muniandy's case.
Both the High Court and the State Courts subsequently made separate complaints to the Attorney-General in December 2021 regarding Ravi’s conduct, under the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016.
Following "careful consideration" of the complaints, on Jan. 7, the AGC filed applications for leave to apply for committal orders against Ravi for contempt of court.
Permission was granted by the High Court for both cases in February 2022, and the applications for committal orders against Ravi for contempt of court were filed on Feb. 18.
Hearing dates for the application have not yet been scheduled.
Disciplinary complaints also filed against Ravi
In addition, the AGC has filed two disciplinary complaints against Ravi and his supervising solicitor Cheng Kim Kuan.
The complaints relate to alleged misconduct by Ravi in his conduct of legal cases, as well as breaches by the two lawyers regarding conditions imposed on Ravi’s practising certificate for 2021 and 2022.
The complaints are now pending before the Law Society.
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Top collage via The Online Citizen and Wikimedia Commons