SINGAPORE — Workers’ Party (WP) secretary-general Pritam Singh was on Tuesday (March 19) handed two charges of giving false answers to a parliamentary committee.

This came after the opposition party leader was accused of falsely testifying at the Committee of Privileges hearings involving former WP Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan, who lied in Parliament in 2021. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Here is a timeline of the events leading up to Tuesday's developments:

NOV 1, 2021: COMMITTEE OF PRIVILEGES PROBES RAEESAH KHAN'S CLAIMS

After Ms Khan confessed to lying during a parliamentary sitting in August about how a 25-year-old victim of sexual assault was treated insensitively by the police, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah referred Ms Khan’s conduct to Parliament's privileges committee.

The WP separately formed a disciplinary panel comprising of Singh, party vice-chair Faisal Manap and chair Sylvia Lim to look into the matter. 

Ms Khan subsequently resigned from the party and vacated her seat as MP on Nov 30, 2021.

DEC 3, 2021: PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE RELEASES FIRST REPORT ON THE CASE

The Committee of Privileges took eight days to conduct its hearings. 

Singh, Mr Faisal and Ms Lim were among the witnesses who were called to give testimony at these hearings.

The committee's first special report on the case to Parliament detailed Ms Khan's testimony, in which she said she had been told by WP leaders to stick to the lie she had made in Parliament.

She testified that she had been told that if she and the party could get away with it, there was no need to clarify the lie.

DEC 11, 2021: COMMITTEE DETAILS MR FAISAL'S REFUSAL TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

The committee's second report noted that Mr Faisal testified that the party’s top three leaders had known for months about Ms Khan's lie but did not reveal it to the rest of WP’s leaders or members.

The report said he also repeatedly refused to give details of what he, Singh and Ms Lim had discussed prior to his hearing, despite being told that refusing to answer would constitute contempt of Parliament.

DEC 12, 2021: COMMITTEE DETAILS SINGH'S DENIALS THAT HE TOLD MS KHAN TO TAKE HER LIE 'TO THE GRAVE'

In its third report, the committee detailed how Singh denied during his testimony that he had told Ms Khan to take her lie "to the grave".

He said that Ms Khan had perhaps made such a claim due to "disassociation".

Singh also said that when he and Ms Khan had discussed the matter on Oct 3, he had told her that he would not judge her, which he said meant that she should “take responsibility and ownership of the issue”.

FEB 10, 2022: COMMITTEE REFERS SINGH AND MR FAISAL TO PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

In its 1,180-page final report, the Committee of Privileges recommended that Singh and Mr Faisal be referred to the Public Prosecutor, meaning the Attorney-General, for further investigation, due to Singh's conduct during the committee's probe and Mr Faisal's refusal to answer relevant questions. The case was then referred to the police.

The committee did not recommend any action against Ms Lim, noting that she was prepared to voluntarily tender evidence that was "damaging" to Singh.

Singh rejected the committee's findings saying that it disregarded evidence from WP leaders and suggested "political partisanship" in the report.

FEB 15, 2022: PARLIAMENT VOTES TO REFER SINGH, MR FAISAL TO PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

Parliament voted to refer Singh and Mr Faisal to the Public Prosecutor as recommended by the Committee of Privileges. 

The House also voted in favour of the committee's recommendation to fine Ms Khan S$35,000 — which comprised a fine of S$25,000 for abusing her parliamentary privilege by lying in Parliament on Aug 3, and another fine of S$10,000 on her for repeating the lie on Oct 4. 

Singh stated his intention to clear his name and to cooperate fully with the Public Prosecutor, despite having objections to the Committee of Privileges’ report.

FEB 7, 2023: POLICE INVESTIGATIONS ONGOING  

During a Parliament sitting, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said in response to a parliamentary question from Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Member of Parliament (MP) for Chua Chu Kang Group Representative Constituency (GRC), that the police were still investigating Singh and Mr Faisal in relation to Ms Khan's hearings before a parliamentary committee.

MARCH 19, 2024: SINGH CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF LYING TO COMMITTEE

Singh appeared in the State Courts on Tuesday morning unrepresented and was charged with two counts of lying to the parliamentary committee. He pleaded not guilty and requested a four-week adjournment for his case to engage a lawyer. His case will be next heard during a pre-trial conference on April 17. 

The police and the Attorney-General's Chambers in a joint statement said that WP vice-chair Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap will not be charged, and has issued him an advisory instead.