JAYANT JIVAN GOLANI v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

Q: Which legislation does [2024] SGHC 12 consider?

The judgment refers to Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (Cap 65A) and The Appellant was eventually investigated and prosecuted for various breaches under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (Cap 91A). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

[2024] SGHC 12 High Court (General Division) 17 January 2024 HC/MA 9200/2022/01 17 min read

5 cases cited

Outcome

Appeal dismissed

I dismissed the appeal.

Source: [2024] SGHC 12, High Court (General Division), decided 17 January 2024. Read directly from the judgment.

Key facts

Court	High Court (General Division)
Decided	17 January 2024
Judge	See Kee Oon
Charges / claim	Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Sentencing
Outcome	Appeal dismissed
Counsel	Attorney-General's Chambers, Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, Eugene Singarajah Thuraisingam, Ng Clare Sophia, Suang Wijaya, Vala Muthupalaniappan

Source: [2024] SGHC 12, High Court (General Division), decided 17 January 2024 — eLitigation. Updated 3 July 2026.

Catchwords

Criminal Law — Appeal Criminal Law — Statutory offences — Employment of Foreign Manpower Act Criminal Procedure and Sentencing — Appeal — Employment of Foreign Manpower Act

Practice Areas

Criminal Law Criminal Procedure and Sentencing

Judges (1)

See Kee Oon Delivered

Counsel (6)

Attorney-General's Chambers Firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP Firm Eugene Singarajah Thuraisingam Counsel Appellant Ng Clare Sophia Counsel Appellant Suang Wijaya Counsel Appellant Vala Muthupalaniappan Counsel Respondent

Parties (2)

Public Prosecutor Respondent Jayant Jivan Golani Appellant

Case Significance

Jayant Jivan Golani v Public Prosecutor [2024] SGHC 12 was decided in the General Division of the High Court of Singapore by See Kee Oon J in Magistrate's Appeal No 9200 of 2022/01, with the grounds of decision issued on 17 January 2024 after the appeal was dismissed on 24 November 2023. The appellant, Mr Jayant Jivan Golani, was the director of Gamma Services Pte Ltd, a company running restaurants, and had pleaded guilty to various charges relating to the employment of foreign manpower. He appealed against the sentences imposed by a Principal District Judge.

To obtain employment passes, the appellant declared in forms submitted to the Ministry of Manpower that each foreign employee's fixed monthly salary would be $7,250. While he credited that declared sum to the employees' bank accounts each month, the employees were required to withdraw $5,520 and return it to him, leaving an actual salary of only $1,730 per month, 76.14% lower than the declared figure. He was prosecuted for breaches under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (Cap 91A, 2009 Rev Ed). See Kee Oon J dismissed the appeal against sentence.

[2024] SGHC 12 explained

JAYANT JIVAN GOLANI v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ([2024] SGHC 12) is a Singapore judgment decided by the High Court (General Division) on 17 January 2024. It is categorised under Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure and Sentencing. It is a recent decision; within this corpus no later judgment has cited it yet. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.

What is [2024] SGHC 12 about?

JAYANT JIVAN GOLANI v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ([2024] SGHC 12) is a High Court (General Division) decision from 2024. Its published catchwords are “Criminal Law — Appeal”, “Criminal Law — Statutory offences — Employment of Foreign Manpower Act”, and “Criminal Procedure and Sentencing — Appeal — Employment of Foreign Manpower Act”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Which legislation does [2024] SGHC 12 consider?

The judgment refers to Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (Cap 65A) and The Appellant was eventually investigated and prosecuted for various breaches under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (Cap 91A). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

Summary

The appellant, Mr Jayant Jivan Golani, a director of a company running restaurants, appealed against the sentences imposed after he pleaded guilty to 22 charges relating to the employment of foreign manpower, including false declaration charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and deduction charges under the Employment Act, with a further 44 charges taken into consideration. The charges arose from his declaring fixed monthly salaries to the Ministry of Manpower while requiring foreign employees to return part of the credited salary, so that their actual pay was substantially lower than declared. The General Division of the High Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the global sentence of six weeks' imprisonment and a fine of $60,000 was neither manifestly excessive nor disproportionate to the gravity of the offences.

What was decided in Jayant Jivan Golani v Public Prosecutor [2024] SGHC 12?

See Kee Oon J of the Singapore High Court dismissed the appeal against sentence by Jayant Jivan Golani, a company director who pleaded guilty to Employment of Foreign Manpower Act charges over false salary declarations. The appeal was dismissed on 24 November 2023, with grounds issued on 17 January 2024.

How were the salary declarations false in [2024] SGHC 12?

The director declared to the Ministry of Manpower a fixed monthly salary of $7,250 per foreign employee, but required each employee to withdraw $5,520 and return it, so the actual salary was only $1,730 per month, 76.14% lower than the declared amount.