Leader of the House Indranee Rajah announced on July 7, 2026, that Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap would face no further parliamentary action for lying to a parliamentary committee in 2021. This outcome is because the time limit for Parliament to impose penalties under the law has lapsed.
L’obstacle légal de la section 22 du PPIPA
The inability to act against Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap is due to the time bar provisions of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act (PPIPA). Under Section 22 of the PPIPA, Parliament has the power to punish offences which have been committed in either the preceding session or the last session of the preceding Parliament.
The timeline of events for the 15th Parliament:
- December 2021: Lim and Faisal testified before the Committee of Privileges (COP) during the first session of the 14th Parliament.
- 24 March 2023: The first session of the 14th Parliament closed.
- 10 April 2023 to 15 April 2025: Second session of the 14th Parliament.
- 4 December 2025: The High Court ruled on the appeal of Pritam Singh.
As the conduct in question took place during the first session of the 14th Parliament, it is no longer open to the 15th Parliament to impose any penalties in respect of this conduct under the PPIPA.
“Under Section 22 of the PPIPA, this 15th Parliament can only deal with offences committed either in this session of the 15th Parliament, or during the second session of the 14th Parliament.” Indranee Rajah, Leader of the House
Le rôle subsidiary et le bénéfice du doute
The Committee of Privileges found that Lim and Faisal played a “subsidiary” role and had also been “somewhat helpful to the committee, albeit in a limited way”. Parliament had opted to wait for Singh’s criminal proceedings to be completed before dealing with Lim and Faisal, to be fair to the duo.
Pending that process, Lim and Faisal were given the benefit of the doubt.
Indranee Rajah said, “Had the timelines been different, I would have proposed a different course of action.”
Le lien avec la condamnation de Pritam Singh
The committee found that Singh had asked former MP Raeesah Khan to “take her lie to the grave” during a meeting on Aug 8, 2021. While Lim and Faisal were at the meeting, they denied that the matter was discussed. Singh was convicted by the District Court in February 2025, and his conviction was upheld by the High Court in December 2025. Indranee said the court’s findings in Singh’s case confirmed the findings of the committee that Lim and Faisal had lied.
Une désapprobation politique sans sanction pénale
Indranee Rajah noted that Parliament could pass a motion to express regret at the conduct of Lim and Faisal. However, she noted that the House had already signalled its clear disapproval of lying to Parliament or its committees when it passed a motion declaring Singh unsuitable as Leader of the Opposition in January.
“However, it should be noted that in the January motion, this House had already signalled its clear disapproval of lying to parliament or its committees.” Indranee Rajah, Leader of the House
Lim rose to say she had no objection, noting that her response to matters raised in the ministerial statement was already on the record from the January debate. No other MPs rose to speak.
Find more reporting in our Nouvelles section.
