WP Pritam Singh on Trial - Can Raeesah Khan be Trusted?

On Tuesday (Oct 15), Pritam Singh's defense team began cross-examining former Workers' Party (WP) member Raeesah Khan, with Singh's lawyer, Andre Jumabhoy, accusing her of consistently lying, both in Parliament and to Singh personally. This cross-examination follows Khan’s infamous false anecdote made in Parliament on August 3, 2021, where she falsely claimed to have accompanied a rape victim to the police station, alleging inappropriate comments made by a police officer.

Khan's admission that the story was a fabrication triggered a series of events, eventually leading to a Committee of Privileges (COP) inquiry. Singh, the WP's secretary-general, is now facing two charges for allegedly lying to the COP about the timeline of events and his involvement in addressing Khan’s falsehood.

During the cross-examination, Jumabhoy pressed Khan on her pattern of deception, labeling her a “liar” multiple times. Khan, while admitting to lying in Parliament, denied lying "non-stop." She conceded that her account of escorting women to the police station was entirely false, including details such as the victim's age and her emotional state.

Jumabhoy also highlighted how Khan continued lying to Singh after her false anecdote. He pointed out that Khan invented additional details to support her lie, such as claiming she could not contact the survivor when, in reality, she didn’t even know the victim. Jumabhoy asserted that these "lies upon lies" demonstrated Khan’s capacity for deceit. Khan responded, stating that her actions stemmed from fear and the pressure she felt not to disappoint Singh, whom she admired.

The cross-examination revealed that Khan continued to build on her fabrications, even while maintaining her respect for Singh, whom she described as a mentor. She admitted to lying not just to Singh but to the entire country when she made the false claims in Parliament.

The critical question now is whether the judge should believe Raeesah Khan’s testimony, given her repeated history of lies. After admitting to fabricating key elements of her story in Parliament and lying to Pritam Singh himself, her credibility is under intense scrutiny. Can her account be trusted when her past behavior has shown a pattern of deception? This raises doubts about the reliability of her testimony, leaving the court to weigh whether her version of events is trustworthy to begin with.