The Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) had originally sued Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim, former party chief Low Thia Khiang and six other defendants int he High Court for alleged losses incurred during the period Punggol East was under WP’s care.
However, a legal poser has now arisen after the WP won Sengkang GRC at the recent election, with questions as to who will take charge of the case since the former single seat (absorbed into Sengkang GRC) has returned to the WP.
Punggol East was managed by the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) from 2013 to 2015, but was won back by the People’s Action Party (PAP) in the 2015 elections. It was then voted back into WP’s hands again during the July 10 elections earlier this month.
A number of issues to be addressed include:
- Clarification on who the plaintiffs are because the single seat under PRPTC has since changed hands to the WP.
- Existing lawyers would need to take instructions from the new client, most probably a new town council by WP, with different views as a client than their predecessor.
Senior Counsel Davinder Singh is representing PRPTC in this suit, with the PRPTC appealing against the judgement issued last October by Justice Kannan Ramesh relating to how the amount of compensation payable by the defendants are to be calculated.
The PRPTC is also appealing against the part of Justice Ramesh’s decision that the town council has to show the loss to be recovered in relation to Ms Lim, Mr Low, Ms How and the late Mr Danny Loh’s estate for their fiduciary duty breaches.