SINGAPORE - Redacting the names of the six aspiring lawyers who had cheated in the 2020 Bar examination would cast a cloud over the entire batch of candidates, most of whom had passed the exam honestly, a spokesman for the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said on Thursday (April 28).

This was in response to queries as to why the Attorney-General had asked the High Court to rescind an earlier order to redact the names of the six trainees.

On April 18, Justice Choo Han Teck in written grounds said he had adjourned the applications by the six to be called to the Bar after the Attorney-General objected to their admission.

Justice Choo, in the spirit of giving second chances, ordered their names to be redacted so they would not face prejudice in the long run and directed the court files to be sealed, to prevent third parties from viewing documents.

On Wednesday, the  identities of the six trainees were disclosed after Justice Choo reversed his decision.

This was after the Attorney-General and the Law Society made arguments before the judge, asking him to rescind his earlier orders.

The AGC spokesman said that, last Thursday (April 21), the Attorney-General filed a request for further arguments with regard to the redaction and sealing orders.

"The Attorney-General had a serious concern that redacting the names of the six applicants would cast a cloud over the entire batch of candidates in Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations 2020, the vast majority of whom had passed the examinations honestly, as the public may speculate as to who the said applicants were," said the spokesman.

She added that an admission hearing is a public acknowledgement by the High Court that a qualified person is a fit and proper person to be called to the Bar and to serve the public.

"Hence, the public has a right to know who he/she is and why the High Court considers him/her to be a fit and proper person to be called to the Bar," said the spokesman.

She stressed that the principle of open justice is a fundamental principle in open court proceedings.

"Redaction and sealing orders are derogations from this general principle, and must be justified by strong reasons," said the spokesman.

"In this case, the circumstances of the six applicants did not fall within any statutory or common-law exceptions to the general principle of open justice."

The six trainees were among 11 aspiring lawyers who had applied to be admitted to the Bar after cheating in the exam, which was held online.

Five of them - Ms Monisha Devaraj, Mr Kushal Atul Shah, Mr Sreeraam Ravenderan, Mr Matthew Chow Jun Feng and Mr Lionel Wong Choong Yoong - had their applications adjourned for six months.

The five shared answers on messaging platform WhatsApp and readily admitted to what they had done after being caught.

Ms Lynn Kuek Yi Ting, who denied cheating but was found to have colluded with another candidate, had her application adjourned for a year.

The AGC had earlier said that the Attorney-General was considering another five applications.