An Indian-origin lawyer was suspended by the Singapore authorities on fees of falsely testifying paperwork associated to the signing of a number of property-related paperwork. In accordance with information company PTI, the paperwork weren’t signed within the presence of the lawyer.
Recognized as Kasturibai Manickam, the lawyer, with greater than 25 years of expertise, was handed a one-year suspension.
Nonetheless, the Regulation Society of Singapore argued for a 30-month suspension for Manickam, performing for 2 siblings who have been the registered homeowners of a condominium unit.
The courtroom of three judges, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, nonetheless, mentioned this was an occasion of a “grave error of judgement” slightly than a personality defect, PTI reported, quoting a report by The Straits Occasions.
There was no dispute that the paperwork have been signed by the supposed signatories, Chief Justice Menon mentioned.
Kasturibai’s error was to resolve to attest that she witnessed the signing as a result of she knew the events and thought no hurt would ensue, he mentioned.
THE CASE
Santha Devi V Puthenveetil Kesava Pillay and her brother Raman Puthenveetil Kesava Pillay bought the property in September 2020 to 2 people.
Kasturibai’s agency — East Asia Regulation Company — had acted for the siblings in a number of issues earlier than the sale of the property. Raman’s spouse was additionally a long-time worker of the agency.
In the middle of performing for the siblings, Kasturibai ready six paperwork for the transaction, all of which have been signed by Santha Devi.
Between September 7, 2020, and November 5, 2020, Kasturibai signed as a witness to Santha Devi’s signature, though the lawyer didn’t witness the signing.
5 of the paperwork, together with a switch instrument, have been despatched to the legislation agency performing for the purchasers.
Santha Devi later lodged a grievance with the Regulation Society of Singapore towards Kasturibai and a disciplinary tribunal was appointed in Could 2022 to formally examine the matter.
The tribunal’s report, issued in October 2022, didn’t elaborate on the occasions resulting in the grievance.
Throughout the tribunal listening to, Kasturibai admitted that she signed as a witness to Santha Devi’s signature regardless of not having witnessed the signing.
Senior Counsel N Sreenivasan, Kasturibai’s lawyer, argued that she didn’t act for her private profit and that her motivation for serving to her aged purchasers keep away from travelling throughout the Covid pandemic.
He additionally argued that there was little or no hurt brought about because the transaction was professional.
The tribunal discovered that Kasturibai’s act concerned a component of dishonesty and constituted grossly improper conduct.
The tribunal discovered that the case was severe sufficient to be referred to the courtroom, which has the facility to droop or disbar attorneys.
Throughout the listening to on January 16, Sreenivasan mentioned Kasturibai needed to tender her deepest apologies to the courtroom and the career.
The courtroom allowed the suspension to take impact on March 7 to offer Kasturibai time to search out one other lawyer to take over her recordsdata.
With PTI inputs
