The trial of Yogida Sawmynaden began on Wednesday at the Intermediate Court before Magistrate Anusha Rawoah. The former minister is charged with “forgery in a private writing” and “making use of a forged private writing” in connection with the case of Simla Kistnen’s fictitious employment. Simla Kistnen was called to the witness stand.
She was questioned by Darshana Gayan, representing the prosecution. She explained that her husband and Yogida Sawmynaden were good friends and saw each other almost every day. Simla Kistnen insisted that she had never worked for Yogida Sawmynaden and that she did not even know what a Constituency Clerk was.
She was confronted with various documents and the statement of Yogida Sawmynaden who said she knew perfectly well that she was his Constituency Clerk. “He is lying. It’s not true“, she replied when asked about Yogida Sawmynaden’s claim that they had had telephone conversations.
However, during her cross-examination by Raouf Gulbul, Yogida Sawmynaden’s lawyer, Simla Kistnen was forced to concede that some elements of her affidavit were untrue. She insisted that her husband could not have known about the Constituency Clerk case because he died before it broke. But Mr Gulbul produced an affidavit sworn by Simla Kistnen in the Supreme Court in which she claimed damages of Rs 50 million from Yogida Sawmynaden. In the document, Simla Kistnen says that she and Soopramanien Kistnen were surprised to learn that she was not eligible for the Self Employment Assistance Scheme because she was employed as a Constituency Clerk.
Raouf Gulbul also referred to Simla Kistnen’s phone records, which showed several calls from Yogida Sawmynaden, whose number was saved under the name “Yogida Bureau“.
On leaving court, Mr Raouf Gulbul declined to comment but said he would insist on the admissions of Simla Kistnen. For his part, Mr Rama Valayden, Simla Kistnen’s lawyer, said that the main question was whether his client worked as Constituency Clerk for Yogida Sawmynaden.
The case will be heard again in court on 23 February.
