Court Hears Arguments in Pre-Trial Discovery Dispute
In a High Court hearing on July 5, the defense team of former Transport Minister S Iswaran requested the prosecution to provide written statements from witnesses set to testify in his upcoming corruption trial. The defense argued that such statements should be disclosed under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to ensure transparency in the pre-trial discovery process.
Iswaran’s lawyer, Davinder Singh, emphasized that pre-trial disclosure is an established practice for civil cases and was also made mandatory in criminal cases by Parliament in 2010. He requested conditioned statements—written summaries that can be admitted as evidence if certain conditions are met—to be handed over to allow the defense to adequately prepare. If conditioned statements were unavailable, Singh proposed the provision of draft statements by the prosecution.
However, the prosecution, represented by Deputy Attorney-General Tai Wei Shyong, disagreed. Tai argued that under the CPC, the prosecution is only required to provide conditioned statements if it intends to admit them in court. He contended that the defense’s interpretation of the law is not supported by any legislative intent or prior rulings.
Iswaran faces 35 charges, including two counts of corruption, related to his dealings with billionaire Ong Beng Seng and business executive David Lum. The defense argues that providing the requested statements would help clarify issues at trial and avoid surprises, while the prosecution maintains that it has already provided sufficient evidence for the defense to prepare its case.
Justice Vincent Hoong adjourned the hearing and will issue a ruling at a later date.
