Singapore, July 14: A 54-year-old suspended Indian-origin lawyer was charged with one count of voluntarily causing hurt and one count of behaving disorderly at a train station in Singapore, a court heard on Friday. Ravi Madasamy is accused of slapping a man named Sellvaraja T Muniyandi on his left cheek and shouting at him around 5.30 pm on July 12 this year near Yio Chu Kang Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, Channel News Asia reported.
M Ravi, previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was ordered to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for medical examination. He is due back in court later this month. Indian-Origin Teen in Singapore Charged for Cheating on Bank, Abetting Money Laundering.
If convicted of voluntarily causing hurt, he could be jailed for up to three years, fined up to SGD 5,000, or both. The penalties for behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place are a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to SGD 2,000 or both for a first-time offender. Ravi was previously convicted of a similar offence in 2004, his charge sheet stated. Repeat offenders face double the jail term and a fine of up to SGD 5,000 or both. This is the latest of Ravi's legal troubles.
In March, he was suspended from practising as a lawyer for a maximum of five years for misconduct, including making "grave and baseless accusations of improper conduct" against the Attorney-General, officers from the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Law Society. Indian-origin Woman in South Africa Charged with Perjury for Faking Her Own Kidnapping.
Ravi, a lawyer of 20 years, frequently makes headlines for his behaviour as well as for his representation of those on death row. He was charged in December 2020 with criminal defamation of Law Minister K Shanmugam, but the Attorney-General's Chambers later withdrew the charge and Ravi was given a conditional warning instead.
He has also been given many sanctions for his conduct as a lawyer. These include a 2007 suspension for being rude to a judge and a prohibition from applying for a practising certificate for two years for baseless allegations against a fellow lawyer and the president of the Law Society in 2016.