A 53-year-old man, Ramamoorthy Reddiar Jayaraman, was fined S$1,000 by a Singapore court on July 30 for obstructing an enforcement officer from the National Environment Agency (NEA) by eating a cigarette.
According to Channel News Asia, the incident occurred on the evening of March 18 at the void deck of Block 515, Hougang Avenue 10, where Ramamoorthy was consuming beer alone. A teenager, who was not related to him, approached and started smoking a cigarette despite the presence of a clear “No Smoking” sign.
When two NEA enforcement officers arrived to conduct checks, one officer noticed the teenager smoking and approached him, introducing herself and presenting her NEA Authority Card.
The officer informed the teenager that he had committed an offence and requested his particulars.
In a surprising turn of events, Ramamoorthy intervened by asking the teenager to hand over his cigarette. Upon receiving it, he put the cigarette in his ‘mouth and ate it’, subsequently instructing the teenager to flee the scene. He instructed the teenager to run away, and the boy did, the report added.
“Eating a cigarette, I didn’t know is an offence in Singapore.”
Court documents did not specify whether the cigarette was lit at the time.
As per the report, in his defense, 53-year-old Ramamoorthy Reddiar Jayaraman claimed he was unaware that eating a cigarette was considered an offense in Singapore.
The judge clarified that there was no law against eating cigarettes, and he was free to consume as many as he liked. However, the charge he was facing was related to obstructing an NEA officer.
Prosecutors noted that Ramamoorthy’s actions effectively prevented the NEA officer from collecting evidence necessary for enforcement of smoking prohibitions. Ramamoorthy later claimed he acted impulsively to help the teenager avoid a “blemished record.”
During the court proceedings, the judge clarified that while eating a cigarette is not an offence, obstructing an NEA officer is. In mitigation, Ramamoorthy expressed confusion, stating, “Eating a cigarette, I didn’t know is an offence in Singapore.”
He sought a lighter fine, highlighting his role as the family’s sole breadwinner and requesting the return of his passport due to a family emergency in Kuala Lumpur.
District Judge Shaiffudin Sarawan said that the case revolved not around the act of eating a cigarette but rather the obstruction of official duties.
The judge confirmed that Ramamoorthy had paid the fine in full.
Here what the judge said according to CNA : “First and foremost, I would like to disabuse you of the error … you are not here because you ate a cigarette. You want to eat all number of cigarettes, that’s entirely up to you, the court has no issue with that. You are here for the offence of obstructing the exercise of an NEA officer’s power. I just want to disabuse you of the misimpression.”
The NEA has yet to disclose whether any actions will be taken against the teenager involved in the incident.
Image via google for illustration
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