Davinder Singh


Davinder Singh Sachdev s/o Amar Singh is a Singaporean lawyer and the Executive Chairman of law firm Davinder Singh Chambers LLC. He has been described by Asia Pacific Legal 500 2009/2010 as being "without peer at the bar".

Education

Singh was educated in Saint Michael's School, Saint Joseph's Institution, National Junior College and the National University of Singapore 's Faculty of Law. Along with Steven Chong, V K Rajah and Jimmy Yim, he was part of the NUS team which won the 1982 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, during which he was also named the Best Oralist.

Legal career

Singh was appointed Senior Counsel in 1997. His legal career, spanning over 30 years, covered areas such as banking and corporate litigation, civil and commercial litigation, intellectual property, defamation, trust, tort and negligence. He is the Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

2005 National Kidney Foundation scandal

In 2005, Singh represented Singapore Press Holdings in a lawsuit brought against them by T. T. Durai for defamation in relation to an article written by one of their correspondents. Durai dropped the case on the second day of the trial.

2014–15 Roy Ngerng defamation case

In 2014, Singh and three other lawyers from Drew & Napier represented Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, in a defamation lawsuit against blogger Roy Ngerng, who was represented by M Ravi and Eugene Thuraisingam. On 7 November 2014, the judge, Lee Seiu Kin, found Ngerng to have defamed Lee Hsien Loong in an online article whose contents suggested that the Prime Minister was guilty of criminal misappropriation. In July 2015, during a hearing to assess the amount of damages he has to pay Lee Hsien Loong, Ngerng broke down in tears while he was being cross-examined by Singh. On 17 December 2015, the judge handed down a judgement ordering Ngerng to pay S$100,000 in general damages and S$50,000 in aggravated damages. Ngerng, through his lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, proposed to pay the S$150,000 in instalments – a request granted by Lee Hsien Loong on the condition that Ngerng paid the S$30,000 in hearing costs immediately, i.e., by 16 March 2016. Ngerng is expected to repay $100 a month from 1 April 2016 onwards over five years until 1 April 2021 when instalments are increased to S$1,000 until the full sum has been paid by the year 2033.

Non-legal career

Apart from his legal career, Singh also served as a Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency from 1988 to 2006. He has also held, or currently holds, independent and/or non-executive directorial positions in various companies, including Delfi Limited, PSA International Pte Ltd, ST Engineering, Singapore Airlines and Singapore Exchange.