Mr Tan said there were two purposes of the court hearing – first to tender the additional charges and second to have the new charges transferred to the High Court.
Asked to give his plea, Iswaran said: “Not guilty.”
He stood in the dock throughout the hearing.
Mr Thevar then asked the prosecution to let the court and defence know if it intends to file any further charges against Iswaran.
“Now the defence is raising this, your honour, because of the following circumstances: On Jan 5, 2024, the prosecution recorded 36 cautioned statements from our client,” said Mr Thevar.
“These eight that were filed today were not part of the 36. However, at the first mention on Jan 18, 2024, the prosecution gave the defence only 27 charges without telling the defence it was not proceeding on nine charges, and your honour will recall that when we learnt there were 27 and not 36, we raised (this) to the court.”
Mr Thevar continued: “The prosecution said they had decided to drop nine charges after having considered all the evidence in this case. There was no mention of the possibility of more charges.”
The lawyer said the defence wrote to the prosecution on Jan 31 to inform that Iswaran intended to apply for an early trial so the matter could be fully aired and decided as soon as possible.
The prosecution did not mention the possibility of more charges in its response, Mr Thevar said.
“On Mar 16, three days before the first CCDC (criminal case disclosure conference) in High Court on Mar 19, CPIB asked our client to attend at its offices on Mar 18,” the lawyer said.
When Iswaran went to CPIB’s office on Mar 18, he was served the eight new charges and CPIB took cautioned statements from him, said Mr Thevar.
“It is not clear why these eight charges have been brought only now,” he said. “I should highlight to your honour that they relate to matters CPIB had already asked our client about in July and August last year. Our client was not even asked to attend any further interviews to answer any question about those matters.”
Mr Thevar said Iswaran asked the CPIB officer on Mar 18 when the new charges would be brought in court, and the response was that a decision had not been made as to whether the eight charges would be brought.
Iswaran was informed only on Mar 22 that the prosecution had decided to file the eight charges against him, said Mr Thevar.
In response, the Chief Prosecutor said: “All charges are tendered against the accused person in this case based on evidence received by CPIB and reviewed by AGC.”
He added that this was not the right forum for the defence to raise these matters and that he can raise them before the High Court.
He asked the court to have the charges transferred to the High Court for the next CCDC on Apr 2.
The judge got Iswaran’s bailor to acknowledge the new charges and transferred the eight new charges to High Court for the purpose of trial.
