KUALA LUMPUR: Two lawyers and their client were sentenced to seven days' imprisonment for contempt for filing false evidence four years ago.
Sessions Court judge Halilah Suboh meted out the sentence against lawyer Mark Robin Tallala and G. Mahadeva, as well as their client, Jagmohan Singh Sandhu, today (April 2).
The trio were found guilty by the Court of Appeal in October last year of filing a false witness statement for Allen David Martinez without approval at the Sessions Court.
The court, however, allowed the trio's stay of execution pending their appeal at the High Court.
The false evidence came to light after Martinez filed an affidavit in 2020 denying every answer in the impugned witness statement.
He also said he did not communicate nor meet the lawyers before the filing of the impugned document.
Tallala and Mahadeva later admitted to having never met or sought Martinez's personal confirmation before the filing of the impugned witness statement.
They blamed Jagmohan and said they relied solely on their client's instructions and the supposition that the latter had finalised the contents of the impugned witness statement with Martinez.
The court said lawyers cannot entrust their client with the responsibility of obtaining confirmation from witnesses.
It said this showed the lawyer's conduct went beyond a "mistake" and encroached on the realm of inconsiderate presumptions and dishonesty.
— MORE TO COME —