MELBOURNE, Feb 20: A Sikh leader has been sentenced by a New Zealand court to community detention and community work for forging poll documents in a bid to win a local body election three years ago.
Labour Party member and justice of the peace and Sikh leader Daljit Singh, 43, was found guilty in the High Court in Auckland of two charges of dealing with forged documents.
Singh had changed addresses to show that people from places such as Timaru and Tauranga appeared to live in the area of the Otara- Papatoetoe Local Board in Auckland, according to media reports here today.
Singh, who contested unsuccessfully in the first Auckland “super-city” election in 2010, was found not guilty of 18 other counts of the same charge, the reports said, adding the charges carried a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Justice Mark Woolford said that it was the first cases of electoral fraud convictions in New Zealand.
Woolford told Singh that he could have faced 12 months in jail, however, after reviewing submissions he sentenced him to five months community detention and 200 hours community work.
Citing that there was a cultural context to Singh’s offending, the judge said: “Your offending cannot be divorced from your culture and community”.
Woolford said the case had “caused great damage to the Sikh community” and deep divisions.
“You have much to repair in your community.”
Six men were found guilty after the jury trial last year, including 40-year-old Gurinder Atwal, who was found guilty on 13 charges and Malkeet Singh on six charges.
On Gurinder, the judge said he was one of the two most culpable of the offenders and could have been liable to 14 months imprisonment but sentenced him to six months community detention and 200 hours community work on each charge to be served concurrently.
Malkeet Singh was sentenced to three months community detention and 200 hours community work.
51-year-old Paramjit Singh, convicted on one charge, was sentenced to 300 hours community work and the 31-year-old Mandeep Singh was sentenced to 200 hours’ community work.
42-year-old Virender Singh, convicted on one charge, received 200 hours community work. (AGENCIES)
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