Singapore High Court orders former PM Lee’s brother to pay damages to Indian-origin ministers in defamation case

Singapore: Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, has been ordered by the High Court to pay SGD 200,000 (Rs 1.23 crore) each to Indian-origin ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan for defaming them over their rental of state properties in an affluent suburb here.

In a judgment released on Friday, Justice Goh Yihan explained his reasons for awarding the damages to the two ministers, who had filed separate defamation claims against Lee, the youngest son of the city state’s founder Prime Minister, the Late Lee Kuan Yew.

The lawsuits were initiated over comments Lee Hsien Yang made on his Facebook page on July 23 last year, suggesting that the ministers had acted corruptly by having the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) give them preferential treatment in the rental of the Ridout Road properties.

Lee, who is not in Singapore, also charged that 'trust in the People’s Action Party (PAP) PAP has been shattered', pointing to then-PM Lee Hsien Loong's 'failure of leadership'.

The People’s Action Party (PAP), founded by the late Lee Kuan Yew, has ruled Singapore ever since independence.

The Facebook comments came after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), in its findings released a month before the post, said there had been no wrongdoing or preferential treatment given to the two ministers.

Lee did not appear in court to defend himself against the allegations.

Shanmugam, who is the Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Foreign Affairs Minister Balakrishnan were represented by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh and took the stand briefly in a hearing earlier this month.

Justice Goh said he was satisfied that Lee had 'consciously chosen not to respond' to the claims.

Lee cannot contest his liability for defamation as he did not turn up or find a lawyer to represent him on the assessment of damages, Justice Goh said, adding that he had to decide the case based on the claimants in the absence of any countervailing material the former PM's younger brother could have produced.

"They are public leaders and persons of the highest integrity who undoubtedly have a high standing. Accordingly, this is a factor that points towards the award of higher damages," Channel News Asia quoted Justice Goh as saying.

Lee is also 'well-known in Singapore' with over 89,000 followers on Facebook, a factor that points towards awarding higher damages, the judge said, agreeing with the ministers' arguments.

Justice Goh also found that Lee had 'acted with malice' in posting the offending words, justifying not only higher damages but aggravated damages.

"Based on the evidence before me, I find that the defendant knew the offending words were false, that he published them recklessly, and/or without considering or caring whether they are true or not," said Justice Goh.

He said the evidence shows that Lee's post came after CPIB's investigation already found no preferential treatment given to the ministers over the Ridout Road properties.

"The CPIB's investigation also established that there was no evidence that the claimants had abused their position for personal gain. This is because trees were felled with the National Parks Board's approval, and the works that the SLA had done to 26 and 31 Ridout Road as landlord were to make them safe and habitable in accordance with conservation guidelines," said Justice Goh.

"Thus, the works done by the SLA prior to handover were consistent with its general practices and comparable to that done for similar properties."

In determining the appropriate amount of damages, Justice Goh referred to past cases of defamation involving Cabinet or prime ministers.

The general and aggravated damages awarded to a prime minister have ranged from "SGD 230,000(Rs 1.41 crore) to SGD 260,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) in the 1980s to sums in excess of SGD 300,000 (Rs 1.84 crore) in the last 20 years," the judge noted.

On top of the damages, he ordered Lee to pay costs of SGD 51,000 (Rs 31.38 lakh) to each minister, according to the Channel report.