Law Society of Singapore v Kasturibai: Disciplinary Proceedings for False Attestation in Property Sale

In Law Society of Singapore v Kasturibai d/o Manickam, the Court of 3 Supreme Court Judges addressed an application by the Law Society of Singapore to sanction Ms. Kasturibai for falsely attesting signatures on six documents related to a property sale. The court found Ms. Kasturibai's actions warranted disciplinary action and ordered her suspension for 12 months.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of 3 Supreme Court Judges

1.2 Outcome

Ms Kasturibai be suspended for a period of 12 months.

1.3 Case Type

Regulatory

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Law Society sanctions Kasturibai for falsely attesting signatures on property sale documents. The court suspended her for 12 months.

1.7 Decision Date

27 February 2024

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
The Law Society of Singapore	Applicant	Statutory Board	Application Granted	Won	Petrina Tan Heng Kiat of Bih Li & Lee LLP Darrell Low Kim Boon of Bih Li & Lee LLP Ng Rui Wen of Bih Li & Lee LLP Chua Siew Ling Aileen of Bih Li & Lee LLP
Kasturibai d/o Manickam	Respondent	Individual	Suspension for 12 months	Lost	Narayanan Sreenivasan of K&L Gates Straits Law LLC A Rajandran of A Rajandran

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Sundaresh Menon	Chief Justice	No
Steven Chong	Justice of the Court of Appeal	No
Belinda Ang Saw Ean	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Petrina Tan Heng Kiat	Bih Li & Lee LLP
Darrell Low Kim Boon	Bih Li & Lee LLP
Ng Rui Wen	Bih Li & Lee LLP
Chua Siew Ling Aileen	Bih Li & Lee LLP
Narayanan Sreenivasan	K&L Gates Straits Law LLC
A Rajandran	A Rajandran

4. Facts

Ms. Kasturibai, a solicitor, falsely attested signatures on six documents related to a property sale.
The complainant, Ms. Santha Devi, lodged a complaint with the Law Society regarding the distribution of sale proceeds.
Ms. Kasturibai admitted to falsely attesting the signatures in the complainant's absence.
The Disciplinary Tribunal found Ms. Kasturibai guilty of grossly improper conduct.
Ms. Kasturibai did not dispute that due cause had been shown against her.
Ms. Kasturibai signed as witness on six documents in total, albeit they related to the same transaction.
Ms Kasturibai accepted that her false attestation misled another firm of lawyers, Advent.

5. Formal Citations

Law Society of Singapore v Kasturibai d/o Manickam, Originating Application No 6 of 2022, [2024] SGHC 55

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2020-09-07	Property sold
2020-09-16	Letter of confirmation dated
2020-09-16	Seller’s stamp duty declaration form dated
2020-10-27	Letter of authority dated, authorising the payment of the net sale proceeds to EALC
2020-11-04	Letter of authority dated, authorising the distribution of sale proceeds
2020-11-04	Statement of account dated
2022-01-01	Originating Application No 6 of 2022
2024-01-16	Parties heard
2024-02-28	Grounds of decision delivered
2024-03-07	Suspension commence
2024-04-01	Suspension commence

7. Legal Issues

Professional Misconduct
- Outcome: The court found that Ms. Kasturibai's actions constituted professional misconduct.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [2018] 5 SLR 1068
  - [2023] 3 SLR 509
  - [2017] 4 SLR 707
  - [2022] 4 SLR 462
False Attestation
- Outcome: The court held that Ms. Kasturibai's false attestation of documents amounted to professional misconduct.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [2023] 3 SLR 509
  - [2017] 4 SLR 707
  - [2022] 4 SLR 462

8. Remedies Sought

Disciplinary Sanction

9. Cause of Actions

Grossly Improper Conduct

10. Practice Areas

Regulatory Law
Professional Conduct

11. Industries

Legal

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Law Society of Singapore v Chia Choon Yang	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2018] 5 SLR 1068	Singapore	Cited for the principles to be applied in imposing sanctions under s 83(1) of the LPA.
Law Society of Singapore v Mohammed Lutfi bin Hussin	Court of Three Judges	Yes	[2023] 3 SLR 509	Singapore	Cited to argue for a 30-month suspension, but distinguished by the court due to the absence of a similar conveyancing 'system' in place by Ms Kasturibai.
Law Society of Singapore v Sum Chong Mun and another	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2017] 4 SLR 707	Singapore	Cited as a case of false attestation, but distinguished because the solicitor falsely attested to witnessing signatures of persons who were not clients and whom they had never met.
Law Society of Singapore v Thirumurthy Ayernaar Pambayan	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2022] 4 SLR 462	Singapore	Cited as a more appropriate precedent, where a solicitor was suspended for nine months for falsely attesting that the complainant had signed a power of attorney in his presence.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Legal Profession Act 1966	Singapore
Land Titles Act 1993	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

False attestation
Disciplinary proceedings
Professional misconduct
Conveyancing transaction
Certificate of correctness
Legal Profession Act
Law Society of Singapore

15.2 Keywords

disciplinary
law society
false attestation
legal profession
singapore

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Disciplinary Proceedings	90
Legal Profession Act	90
Show cause action	80
Evidence	30
Civil Procedure	20

16. Subjects

Legal Ethics
Professional Responsibility
Regulatory Law