In 2014, Harpreet Singh Nehal SC, then a Senior Counsel at Cavenagh Law LLP, and two unnamed colleagues found themselves at the center of an ethical storm and was at risk of being disbarred if found guilty.

Tasked with defending Ernest Ferdinand Perez De La Sala in a Singapore trial over a near-billion-dollar trust dispute — Compañia De Navegación Palomar, SA v Ernest Ferdinand Perez De La Sala — they prepared five witnesses in Sydney.

Their methods, including group sessions, were standard for complex litigation, involving affidavit reviews, mock cross-examinations, and error corrections, with safeguards like barring witnesses from commenting on each other’s testimony.

What triggered the investigation

Trouble brewed when a 14-page “script” surfaced mid-trial in 2017, prompting High Court Justice Quentin Loh to question the testimony’s integrity, likening it to coaching banned in England’s case R v Momodou.

The Attorney-General launched a disciplinary probe, but in May 2018, the tribunal exonerated Harpreet and his colleagues.

The decision rested on multiple grounds: the 2010 ethics code lacked clear rules against group preparation, no evidence showed misconduct, and their approach was deemed acceptable at the time.

Harpreet: Where do you hide your face?

Harpreet’s entanglement, detailed in a 2024 JOM article, was a “trial by fire.”

He recalled the 2017 allegations nearly unraveling his career: “When I first heard it, I cooped myself up in my apartment for three full days. ‘Because where do you hide your face?’”

A guilty verdict could have meant disbarment, but after a year-long process, the tribunal found the charges baseless, fully vindicating him and his team.

Why were the lawyers cleared?

The tribunal’s reasoning, per Jeffrey Pinsler SC’s 2018 analysis in the Singapore Academy of Law Journal, was layered:

• No clear rules: The LP(PC)R 2010 didn’t ban group preparation or define its limits, with “no express law or consensus” against it (para 6.1.1).
• No misconduct: Safeguards minimized influence, and the D-3 script wasn’t tied to the lawyers (paras 6.2.4, 6.3.1).
• Legitimate practice: Group sessions, common in complex cases, could enhance accuracy—e.g., jogging memory (para 6.2.7)—with little evidence overlap reducing risks (para 6.2.6).
• No malice: Absent intent to deceive, charges under the Legal Profession Act were “wholly unjustified” (para 21).

Later, the Court of Appeal (2018 SGCA 16) cautioned against group preparation as an evidentiary concern, not a retroactive ethical rule, reinforcing the regulatory gap’s role in their clearance.

No ethical breach, but...

The findings suggest their clearance hinged largely on a regulatory void, raising urgent questions about morality, legality, and the need for reform in Singapore’s legal ethics framework.

Legality cleared them, but morality lingers.

Ethically, the case teeters on a knife’s edge. Group preparation risks memory contamination — a psychological reality — yet it’s a tool used globally, from Australia’s sanctioned conferences to the U.S.’s liberal rehearsals.

Harpreet’s team likely aimed for accuracy, not manipulation, and their safeguards suggest good faith.

Still, the “script” and judicial unease cast shadows: perception matters. Practices blurring witness independence, even unintentionally, chip at justice’s foundation.

In 2014, Singapore’s Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2010 offered no specific guidance on witness preparation, let alone group sessions.

The tribunal noted the gap, observing no express prohibition or professional consensus against their methods.

Ethics can falter not from malice, but from the absence of clarity.

The Compania saga reveals a profession navigating murky waters without a compass.

The lawyers’ exoneration wasn’t a triumph of ethics but a symptom of a system unprepared for modern litigation’s complexities.

Pinsler’s call for explicit rules in the 2015 ethics code rings truer today — guidelines defining permissible preparation, mandating transparency, and guarding against contamination could have preempted this mess.

So, were they ethical? Yes, given the context, but with a caveat: ethics demands more than legal compliance.

Clear rules would protect practitioners from retroactive scrutiny and ensure testimony’s integrity.

Until then, cases like the one Harpreet Singh was involved in will linger as cautionary tales — proof that in the absence of clarity, even the well-intentioned tread a fine line.

Ethically, the case remains a gray zone — legally permissible, yet morally debatable.

Harpreet Nehal Singh, a Senior Counsel and a relatively new face in Singapore’s Workers’ Party (WP), has been steadily gaining attention as a potential figure in the party’s future.

His prominence, however, appears to owe as much to his own efforts as to any formal endorsement from the WP leadership.

Recent coverage by JOM, a local media platform conveniently helmed by Harpreet's editor-in-chief buddy Sudhir Vadaketh, has been churning out glowing profiles about Harpreet and deploying sponsored ads on social media to prop up the lawyer's image.

Harpreet recruited by Leon Perera directly

Harpreet’s entry into the WP traces back to Leon Perera, a former MP who resigned in 2023 after a publicized affair with party member Nicole Seah.

But Perera’s departure was far from amicable.

Sources indicate he left on strained terms with WP Secretary-General Pritam Singh, with the two allgedly no longer on speaking terms following the scandal and its fallout.

Pritam's trust issues post-Raeesah Khan

According to those familiar with WP dynamics, Harpreet has struggled to gain the trust of Pritam Singh and the party’s core leadership.

The lingering association with Perera, combined with the acrimonious circumstances of his exit, appears to have left Harpreet on the periphery of the WP’s inner circle.

Without the backing of Pritam — who has led the party since 2018 and remains its public face ahead of GE2025 — Harpreet has reportedly turned to his own resources to build his profile.

Harpreet is building his legacy, on his own terms

Harpreet's legal background and personal stature have fueled efforts to position himself as a credible voice, with JOM’s relentless cheerleading painting him as a rising star, whether the WP likes it or not.

This self-driven push has not gone unnoticed.

Some within the party view Harpreet’s reliance on external platforms like JOM as a sign of ambition, a bid to establish himself as a contender in a post-Pritam era.

Pritam, despite his recent conviction in February 2025 for lying to a parliamentary committee, retains firm control of the WP and has signaled his intent to lead it into the next election. His leadership has emphasized unity and resilience, leaving little room for speculation about succession—at least publicly.

Harpreet’s independent profiling, however, suggests he’s not content to wait in the wings.

Warming up to WP leadership

The WP has been tight-lipped about internal matters, and Harpreet’s appearances alongside figures like Sylvia Lim and Pritam at party events project an image of cohesion.

Yet, the lack of integration into Pritam’s trusted circle hints at underlying tensions.

“Harpreet’s got the skills, but he’s not one of Pritam’s people,” one observer close to the party noted. “Leon’s baggage didn’t help, and now he’s having to prove himself on his own terms.”

For now, Harpreet’s trajectory remains a subplot in the WP’s broader story.

With GE2025 approaching, the party is focused on strengthening its slate, and Harpreet’s legal expertise and public presence could still make him a valuable asset — provided he bridges the gap with the leadership.

Nearly two decades ago, Harpreet Nehal Singh — Harvard-educated, mentored by legal giant Davinder Singh, and bold enough to spar with Lee Kuan Yew on live television — sought entry into Singapore’s ruling elite.

Between 2005 to 2006, Harpreet met with the top brass of PAP's leadership - including multiple one-on-ones with Lee Hsien Loong, Tharman Shamugaratnam, S Jayakumar (then deputy prime minister) and the late Lee Kuan Yew.

As Jom confirms in a 2024 interview with Harpreet: “The cabinet deliberated” before rejecting him with the ambiguous, “There are different ways to contribute to this country.”

Now, at 59, Harpreet traded the establishment’s orbit for the opposition’s front line.

From PAP Aspirant to WP Member — or mole?

Harpreet's rejection didn’t end his political ambitions — he applied for an NMP role in 2007 but was again unsuccessful.

By the 2010s, Jom notes his growing disillusionment with PAP, mirrored by its declining vote share (75.3% in 2001 to 61.2% in 2020).

In 2021, he began volunteering with then - WP MP Leon Perera, and by 2023, he was seen in WP’s light blue uniform, engaging in walkabouts and Hammer newspaper sales.

The timing and context of Harpreet’s PAP meeting invite close to two decades ago invite speculation: was his rejection genuine, or a staged exit to position him as a long-term asset?

Meeting senior PAP leaders suggests trust — why entertain a high-profile candidate only to dismiss him without cause?

Harpreet is Establishment material

Harpreet’s resume screams establishment: Straits Times columns, elite circles, a career thriving in the PAP’s ecosystem.

His 2023 pivot to the WP feels dramatic—too dramatic, perhaps.

Jom quotes him decrying POFMA, Yale-NUS’s closure, and media control: “I don’t see this thing self-correcting.”

It’s a sharp but measured critique, never fully anti-establishment - almost as if he’s playing a part, staying within bounds set by unseen handlers. But it’s also rehearsed, polished — “carefully primed, bullet-proofed,” as Jom puts it.

Could Harpreet’s 2005-2006 encounter have been a directive to embed himself elsewhere, resurfacing in the WP as it gains traction ahead of the 2025 General Election?

The mole hypothesis

Here’s the theory: the PAP, masters of control, saw in Harpreet not a liability but an asset.

They let him simmer, maintaining his insider ties — think Davinder Singh’s mentorship, his establishment perch — while grooming him for a covert role.

That 2005-2006 meeting wasn’t a dead end — it was a starting line. He’s not hiding disillusionment; he’s concealing loyalty.

The WP’s growth threatens the PAP’s grip; who better to embed than a credentialed ally who can pass as a convert?

If he wins a seat, he’s not just a voice — he’s a listener, a conduit back to the ruling elite.

Jom calls him a potential “big fish” for the opposition, but what if he’s bait, dangling to keep the WP in check?

The PAP didn’t lose him — they deployed him.

Harpreet the Harpoon

Harpreet’s WP role is public: he’s been photographed with leaders like Pritam Singh and Sylvia Lim, and his March 18, 2025, Facebook post declares pride in the party, advocating “balanced politics.”

Yet, the PAP’s silence on his departure is telling — no rebuttal, no narrative.

His insider roots — mentored by Davinder Singh, a PAP stalwart — contrast with his late opposition turn at 59.

The WP’s rise (10 seats in 2020) makes it a target for monitoring; Harpreet, with his credentials, fits as a potential plant.

No hard proof exists — his 2005-2006 meeting’s details remain opaque — but the hypothesis lingers.

What’s 'Harpreet the Harpoon' burying? A directive, whispered by senior leaders, to infiltrate and report? A promise of reward if he pulls it off? He’s not the naive reformer Jom lionizes; he’s a chess piece, moved by the party he claims to oppose.

Evidence is thin, but the pattern fits: a man too connected to break free, too strategic to act on whim.

What’s next?

Harpreet’s next steps will clarify his intent.

If he contests in 2025 and wins, his parliamentary actions — loyalty to WP or subtle PAP alignment — could reveal more.

For now, his journey from a 2005-2006 PAP meeting to WP prominence is fact; whether it masks a mole’s agenda is conjecture.

The timeline holds: he met PAP leaders nearly two decades ago, was rebuffed, and now challenges them — or does he?