Late tycoon's assets: Judge approves sealing of case files 'reluctantly'

SINGAPORE - A high court judge has approved an application for a case to be taken off public access, out of respect for the decisions of the judges in previous proceedings of the case, but stressed that he did so "reluctantly".

The judge, Justice Choo Han Teck, said sealing a court file just because the party involved is rich or famous is unjustifiable. A file which is ordered to be sealed by the court is not open to public access and the names of the parties are concealed.

In judgment grounds released yesterday, he noted that lawyers seeking to seal the file had argued that previous suits on the same case were also sealed by the judges involved.

The case in question is about the distribution of assets left behind by a "very wealthy tycoon", pitting the executors of his estate against his three daughters, who were among the beneficiaries.

In 2012, two of the sisters obtained an order under the Mental Capacity Act from a district judge to handle the affairs of the other sister as she had a mental incapacity.

But even before the district court ruling, executors had resolved to distribute about £39.3 million (S$83 million) to beneficiaries based on their share entitlement.

After the district judge's decision in January last year, the executors wrote to the two sisters to hand over the affected sister's money to them.

But the affected sister appealed to the High Court, where Justice Lai Siu Chiu set aside the order in October last year. The affected sister's lawyers sought to have her share paid to her.

In turn, the other two sisters applied to freeze the payout while they tried to appeal against Justice Lai's decision last December. But High Court Judicial Commissioner George Wei refused to freeze the payout before the outcome of the appeal to the apex court, expected in August this year.

The executors, represented by lawyers Edwin Tong and Fay Fong, then applied to the High Court last month for directions on whether the payout should be made or whether they should await the appeal outcome.

Justice Choo declined to make any order, ruling that it was "beyond the reach of the court".

He acknowledged the executors were in a dilemma but clarified that they are free to decide as long as they acted reasonably and in good faith. But he took issue with the application to seal court files, noting that all three parties were united in the request.

"Counsel said the defendants are well known in society and would not want details of the (suit) to be made public," he said. But he added that protecting the rich and famous from embarrassment is no good reason to keep the files closed.

"Court proceedings are public proceedings and not secret trials. Court files should only be sealed on deserving grounds such as security, for example, of the state," he said, adding that a mere application under the Mental Capacity Act is in itself unjustified in sealing the court file.

This article was first published on June 4, 2014.
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