2 men face fresh charge over impromptu Clarke Quay New Year countdown gathering

SINGAPORE — Two men, who were previously hauled to court for allegedly breaching multiple Covid-19 regulations during an impromptu New Year’s Eve gathering at Clarke Quay, were given a fresh charge each on Tuesday (Feb 8).

Harjaz Singh and Verma Pulkit are each accused in a prosecution by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of violating Covid-19 regulations by attending, without reasonable excuse, a gathering “made up of other individuals for a common purpose” near the Read bridge outside Riverside Point on Jan 1 at around midnight.

This brings to three the number of charges levelled against each of the two men, who appeared in a district court on Tuesday not represented by lawyers.

On Jan 25, Singh and Pulkit were already given one charge each for failing to wear a mask over their nose and mouth, and one each for not keeping a 1m safe distance from other people in a public space.

That day, two other men also faced those two charges: Kotra Venkata Sai Rohankrishna and Brooks-Potts William Alexander.

Kotra was also handed an extra charge of attending a gathering with other people for a common purpose outside his place of residence that day.

The court also heard on Tuesday that Alexander, who was present in court and represented by Ms Laura Yeo of Withers Khattarwong LLP, has yet to decide if he will be pleading guilty, while the other three men intend to do so.

Kotra, who was not present on Tuesday, is represented by Ms Lim Shu Yi of Parwani Law LLC.

They are each scheduled to be back in court again on March 8.

The respective ages and nationalities of the men were not given in court documents, though they are understood to be aged between 19 and 22.

Over the New Year's Eve weekend, videos circulated on social media showed large crowds counting down to the new year in Clarke Quay, with many appearing to have their masks pulled down.

In a statement on Jan 2, the Government’s Covid-19 task force said that the authorities were looking into the gathering at Clarke Quay, which "involved some blatant breaches of safe management rules and is a potential superspreading event".

On Jan 24, URA said that four other people were fined in relation to the same New Year’s Eve event, which was captured on camera and went viral on social media. They have been served notices of composition of S$1,000 each for flouting Covid-19 regulations.

Each charge of violating the Covid-19 regulations carries a fine of up to S$10,000 or a jail term of up to six months, or both.