SINGAPORE: The Law Society of Singapore has applied for a court order to have M Ravi medically checked by a psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health to determine if he is fit to practise law in Singapore. Mr Ravi has 14 days to comply.
The originating summons filed by the society said should Mr Ravi fail to submit to the medical examination, his practising certificate will be suspended. It added that if the IMH report states that Mr Ravi is unfit to practise law, his certificate will be suspended.
At a news conference on Friday afternoon, Mr Ravi distributed copies of the summons to the media. He said the current court order is unnecessary, as he has already complied with previous requests made by the Law Society.
This includes submitting a medical report to the Law Society on August 8.
Mr Ravi said that in light of the latest development, he is seeking aggravated and punitive charges. He is raising his compensation demand of S$21 million to S$36 million. Mr Ravi had already been seeking millions of dollars in compensation for alleged defamation and damage to reputation.
This comes after one of the Law Society's members, Mr Wong Siew Hong, appeared in the High Court in July on three separate occasions to present a letter allegedly written by Mr Ravi's psychiatrist.
The letter, signed off by Dr Calvin Fones, stated that Mr Ravi was having a relapse of bipolar disorder, and was "unfit to practise law".
Mr Ravi accused the Law Society and Mr Wong of failing to investigate the letter's content before it was made known to the public. He also claimed that Mr Wong's actions had breached the confidentiality of the letter.
-CNA/ac
