The Court of Three Judges on Monday barred former Singaporean
Gopalan Nair from ever practising law in Singapore.
Justices Tan Lee Meng, Tay Yong Kwang and Lee Seiu Kin struck
him off the roll following an application by the Law Society that
Mr Nair, 60, face disciplinary action for scandalising the courts
and conduct not befitting a lawyer.
The society reached this conclusion last year after a
disciplinary tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice convicted him
on five counts.
Mr Nair, now an American citizen who lives in California, was
not present even though he had been invited to defend himself. He
was sentenced to three months' jail in 2008 for contempt of court
in remarks on his blog post while on a visit here.
But upon his return to the United States, he announced that he
was defying an undertaking given to the court to remove posts which
had impugned the integrity of High Court judges.
A former Workers' Party candidate, he emigrated in 1991 and
became a US citizen in 2004. Although he stopped practising here,
he has remained on the rolls. He had also, in 1992, been suspended
from practising law for two years for remarks about former
attorney-general Tan Boon Teik.
-- ST
