The Singapore government statutory board HDB now complains the choice of accountant appointed by the Opposition Workers’ Party town council. HDB claims that the certified accountant company is unreliable and inexperienced because the company does not have a two-year operational record and have no indication it has experience auditing public institutions.
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon also ruled in WP’s favour confirming that they do not have to pay for the legal fees incurred by the Singapore government, which is estimated to have cost at least S$50,000. The lawsuit fees of MND will hence be paid for by Singaporean taxes.
The Ministry of National Development (MND) and it’s stat board HDB, lost two rounds of lawsuits against the Opposition WP town council, with the final judgment delivered by the Apex Court in Nov 2015. In that particular judgment, the WP town council was ruled to have the right to appoint any qualified accountant of their choice. Several ministers, including Law Minister K Shanmugam himself, have also made several defamatory allegations against the Opposition party claiming dishonesty and corruption. However, the Singapore Police and Auditor-General found no basis after investigations.
The new Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong has declined to comment on the series of lawsuits and have instead only instructed HDB and MND to commence legal proceedings.
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