FijiFirst Member of Parliament Balmindar Singh yesterday refused to answer Fiji Sun questions on allegations against him.

After days of trying to track him down, he turned up in Parliament yesterday to attend a Justice Committee meeting. He is a committee member.

But he is yet to meet with party officials to answer to the allegations.

The officials have been wanting to speak with Mr Singh and seek clarification on a number of allegations.

It has been established that the nature of allegations ranges from wrong payment of allowances to his behaviour in Parliament.

It is alleged that Mr Singh, while residing in Nakasi, received a travel allowance for travels from Waito in Tailevu.

It has also been confirmed that Mr Singh, who is fluent in English, demanded a Punjabi translator when he was arrested following allegations of assault in December, wanting to be interviewed in Punjabi and not in Hindi or English.

Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho yesterday confirmed that Mr Singh had informed the arresting officer that he wanted to give his interview in Punjabi.

“Yes, he had asked for a Punjabi translator. After we were going through the process of finding a Punjabi translator for a few hours, he changed his stance and agreed to be interviewed in English,” Brigadier-General Qiliho confirmed.

The case of assault was dismissed by the Suva Magistrates Court on February 8.

Mr Singh is currently out on bail for a separate matter, which involved a charge of failure to supply sufficient breath analysis on direction of a Police officer and another charge alleging dangerous driving.

For this matter, he is to take plea on 25 July.

Meanwhile, it has also been confirmed that Mr Singh lodged a complaint at the Korovou Police Station last Thursday (June 15) that he had lost his mobile phone the previous Sunday. This was around the time when FijiFirst officials were trying to contact Mr Singh to answer to allegations about him.

Yesterday, he got off from his vehicle and went straight to the committee room for the meeting at 1pm. He left the meeting soon before 5pm and did not go up to the Government Chambers. Instead, he made a beeline for his vehicle and drove off. 

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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