Indian IT vendor jailed in Singapore after risking 18,016 court files

An Indian national has been sentenced to 28 weeks in jail in Singapore for compromising the safety of more than 18,000 files belonging to the State Courts while working there as an IT vendor.

Janarthanan Tamil Kovan, 42, pleaded guilty on Monday to endangering the safety of documents belonging to the State Courts and the Government of Singapore under the Official Secrets Act, and to making an unlawful modification to a government-managed laptop issued to him. A third charge was taken into consideration. Although he had given an acquaintance remote access to the laptop, no files were transferred during the session.

In June 2024, Janarthanan, a service delivery manager with Lenovo PCCW Solutions, was attached to the State Courts as an external IT vendor. He was the team leader of the State Courts' cloud system team, which manages various systems and applications of the courts.

He was issued a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop, a government-managed device covered by GovTech's acceptable use policy and Lenovo's own policy. Both policies barred unauthorised access to and modifications of the laptop.

On August 4, 2025, Janarthanan decided to use the laptop to take an examination for an international professional association focused on information technology governance, for certification as a certified information security manager, after his own laptop developed a fault. When he was unable to operate the security-protected laptop, he contacted a person he knew as Hari Balan, with whom he had earlier communicated on WhatsApp about IT-related courses. Court documents cited by Channel News Asia said Balan had an IP address in India.

At the time of the connection, 18,016 files belonging to the State Courts were stored on Janarthanan's laptop. All but one of the files were classified as restricted and non-sensitive, while the remaining file was classified as restricted and sensitive (high). The files contained login credentials, secret keys and network architecture details of the State Courts' network.

On August 14, 2025, a representative from the Corporate Services Division of the Singapore judiciary lodged a police report over the unauthorised installation of the remote desktop application. Janarthanan was later investigated by the Technology Crime Investigation Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department.

While the files did not contain sensitive case-specific information, they contained details that could potentially be used to gain unauthorised access to systems holding sensitive and confidential information, including case information and judges' notes. In September 2025, Janarthanan admitted that his actions had endangered the safety of the files, which could have been transferred or stolen once the remote connection was established.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo sought a jail term of seven to nine months, saying Janarthanan had been entrusted with a laptop containing sensitive information. "He ought to have known better, as a team leader of the State Courts' cloud system team, to not allow unauthorised accesses to and make unauthorised modifications to the laptop," Choo was quoted as saying. "Ironically, he did so to take an examination for information security."

Defence lawyers S Balamurugan and A Ravidass sought a jail term of three to four months instead. Balamurugan said his client has two children in India with his wife and that the family is facing financial difficulties. District Judge Lorraine Ho, however, noted that the risk of harm was great as there could have been a systemic attack causing possible public alarm and fear. The judge also noted that the offender had allowed an unknown foreign entity unauthorised access to data on his laptop. The case centred on the remote access granted to the laptop and the resulting risk to 18,016 State Courts files, even though no files were ultimately transferred.

With PTI Inputs

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