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AGC stops criminal proceedings against lawyer M Ravi for allegedly defaming Shanmugam, issues conditional warning

SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has stopped criminal proceedings against lawyer M Ravi for publishing an allegedly defamatory post against Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

Lawyer M Ravi outside the State Courts on Oct 27, 2020.

Lawyer M Ravi outside the State Courts on Oct 27, 2020.

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  • Lawyer M Ravi claimed in a Facebook post that a fellow lawyer said Law Minister K Shanmugam wielded influence over Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon
  • The Attorney-General's Chambers has served a two-year conditional warning on Mr Ravi
  • His criminal defamation charge was withdrawn on a discharge not amounting to an acquittal

 

SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has stopped criminal proceedings against lawyer M Ravi for publishing an allegedly defamatory post against Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

In a statement on Wednesday (March 3), AGC said it has issued a conditional warning to him instead, after careful consideration of representations made by Mr Ravi’s defence lawyers.

The human rights lawyer claimed in a Facebook post on Nov 6 last year that fellow lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam said that Mr Shanmugam “wields influence over Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon” and “calls the shot and controlls (sic) Sundaresh Menon”.

Mr Ravi, 51, was charged with criminal defamation the following month. But following AGC’s decision, that charge was withdrawn on Wednesday on a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

“Should Mr Ravi breach any of the conditions to the warning, the charge against him may be revived,” AGC said.

As part of the conditional warning, which will be in effect for two years, Mr Ravi must delete the Nov 6 Facebook post as well as publish an apology and an undertaking not to repeat his allegations.

In a Facebook post last Thursday, Mr Ravi wrote: “I now admit and acknowledge that these allegations are false and completely without foundation. I apologise unreservedly to Mr K Shanmugam for making them. 

“I have removed the statement from my Facebook page and undertake not to publish any further statements on this issue, or to make any allegations to the same or similar effect, in any manner whatsoever.”

ABOUT THE CASE

On the day Mr Ravi posted the claims, Mr Thuraisingam wrote a letter to the Law and Home Affairs Minister saying that there was “absolutely no truth whatsoever" to the allegations.

Mr Thuraisingam briefly employed Mr Ravi when the latter was suspended from practising law in 2015.

Mr Ravi made the same allegations in June 2017, Mr Thuraisingam said, adding that Mr Ravi never produced supporting records, which he claimed he had. No police action was taken then.

On Nov 8 last year, the police said that they were investigating Mr Ravi for criminal defamation over his latest post. The public prosecutor had issued an order for the probe under the Criminal Procedure Code.

To successfully prosecute someone for the offence, it must be established that the accused person intended to harm the subject’s reputation or had reason to believe the subject’s reputation would be harmed.

After the police’s announcement, Mr Ravi said that he was suing the Singapore Police Force and media companies Mediacorp and Singapore Press Holdings for defamation. 

He said then that investigations were based on a “stale complaint” and he was seeking more than S$250,000 in damages.

Soon afterwards, he stopped his defamation lawsuit. 

He said on Feb 10: “I unreservedly withdraw all my claims and allegations... regarding the investigations against me for criminal defamation and regarding the press/media reports and statements that were published in respect of such investigations.

“I will not make the same or similar claims and allegations again.”

Mr Ravi, whose full name is Ravi Madasamy, is a solicitor at law firm Carson Law Chambers.

The lawyer, who suffers from bipolar disorder punctuated by episodes of mania and depression, received his practising certificate with conditions in July 2019, after being barred from practice for four years.

In January 2018, he was ordered to undergo 18 months of psychiatric treatment in lieu of time in jail for offences that included assaulting fellow lawyer and ex-colleague Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss. 

After his practising certificate was reinstated, he told TODAY in an interview that he had sought help to curb his relapses and learnt to recognise triggers. He also said that those with bipolar disorder are “sadly, grossly misunderstood and still stigmatised today”.

Related topics

M Ravi defamation K Shanmugam

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