THE leadership of an elite country club has been slammed by Singapore's highest court for its handling of a disciplinary case against a member whose marital status it queried.

The Court of Appeal said the governing body of the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) denied Madam Kay Swee Pin a proper hearing, acted irrationally and was prejudiced against her from the start.

The club's general committee (GC), then led by lawyer Giam Chin Toon, breached the rules of natural justice when it suspended her club membership, said Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong when he released the court's grounds of decision on Thursday.

The 44-page document, laying out why the Court of Appeal decided that her suspension should be void, gave a peek into country-club politics, complete with poison e-mail and hurtful gossip.

Madam Kay, a club member since 1992, had her marital status questioned in August 2005, amid the heat of elections to posts in the club. Whispers went around that Mr Ng Kong Yeam was not really her husband.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.