Indian-origin Singapore minister resigns after being charged with corruption
Singapore (PTI): Singapore's Indian-origin Transport Minister S Iswaran, who is facing corruption charges, resigned from the ruling People's Action Party on Thursday.
The 61-year-old politician will also step down as a Member of Parliament, The Straits Times newspaper reported.
Iswaran was arrested on July 11 last year as part of an investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
His arrest was made public on July 14, although no details were provided on the nature of the investigation, according to media reports. Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix and is chairman of race promoter Singapore GP, was arrested and asked to provide information about his interactions with Iswaran.
In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, dated January 16, Iswaran rejected the various offences the CPIB charged him with.
"I reject the allegations in the charges and will now focus on clearing my name. Given the circumstances, I feel it is right for me to resign from Cabinet, as a Member of Parliament and as a member of the PAP," the letter said.
In a separate letter to the prime minister, dated January 17, Iswaran said that he would be returning his salary and MP allowance received since the commencement of the CPIB investigations in July 2023.
"My family and I have decided to return the monies because we cannot in all good conscience benefit from them when I was unable, on account of the investigations, to discharge my duties as a minister and Member of Parliament," he said, adding that he will not be seeking the return of these if he is acquitted.
Responding to Iswaran's letter, the prime minister said on Wednesday that he was disappointed and saddened that he (Iswaran) was leaving politics in these circumstances.
"But it is essential that I deal with such matters rigorously as per the law. It is the right thing to do. We must uphold the integrity of the Party (PAP) and the government. I am sure you understand the importance of doing so. Singaporeans expect no less," said Lee.
In a separate statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat will replace Iswaran effective Thursday. He will also be appointed Second Minister for Finance.
Meanwhile, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu will take over Iswaran's portfolio as the Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations.
Earlier on Thursday, Iswaran appeared before a district judge and was charged with two counts of corruption over bribes.
He arrived at the State Courts at about 8 am and did not respond to questions from reporters during his walk to the court entrance, according to a Channel News Asia report.
He pleaded not guilty to 27 charges - two of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, one of obstructing justice and 24 of receiving gratification as a public servant under the Penal Code.
Iswaran is accused of accepting more than SGD 160,000 from Ong to advance the hotelier's business interests in a Singapore Grand Prix contract with the Singapore Tourism Board in September and December 2022.
He also faces 24 charges of accepting valuable items worth more than SGD 218,000, including Singapore Grand Prix tickets, between November 2015 and December 2021 from Ong while being a public servant and one charge of obstructing justice in May 2023.
Iswaran was Minister for Transport since May 2021. His political career spans more than 26 years since he was first elected in 1997 as a Member of Parliament.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
