2 Indian-origin Brothers sentenced by Court for not serving National Service in Singapore

Singapore, October 20, 2016: In Singapore, two Indian-origin brothers have been sentenced by the court for failing to report for the National Service which is compulsory.

The brothers, Sakthikanesh Chidambaram, 25, and Vandana Kumar Chidambaram who will be turning 23 in two weeks – without a valid exit permit remained out of Singapore and was unsuccessful to report for the National Service (NS) for almost more than five years and more than three years, respectively.

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On Wednesday, Sakthikanesh was jailed for three weeks, and his younger brother Vandana was fined with SGD 6,000.

According to PTI, "Sakthikanesh, earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to report for the National Service for five years, six months and 17 days. Vandana earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to report for the NS for three years, six months and two days."

They also admitted that both of them remained outside Singapore without a valid exit permit.
All these charges were taken into consideration before sentencing.

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Sakthikanesh was told to register for the NS in June 2008, but later that month, he left Singapore so as to pursue his university education at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra. He returned in April 2014, after the completion his studies. He was enlisted for the full-time National Service in September 2014.

Vandana was told to register for National Service, in May, 2010, but he returned to Singapore in June 2014, and was enlisted for the full-time NS in August 2014.

In his judgement grounds, District Judge John Ng found that the brothers had "a substantial connection to Singapore". He further noted, "Both got their NRICs and used Singapore passports for travel."

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"From the facts of this case, it is clear to me that the parents and the boys had no intention of giving up their Singapore citizenship before their NS obligations came to the fore," he said.

However, the judge took into account that both of them surrendered themselves and had pleaded guilty to their charges. "They also performed their NS exceptionally well," he noted.

by NewsGram team with inputs from PTI