SPACESATS PTE. LTD. v CHAN CHIA SERN & 5 Ors

[2023] SGHC 40 High Court (General Division) 21 February 2023 HC/S 349/2020 ( HC/SUM 5179/2021 )

9 cases cited Cited by 1 case

Key facts

Court	High Court (General Division)
Decided	21 February 2023
Judge	S Mohan
Charges / claim	Contempt of court
Counsel	CNPLaw LLP, Millennium Law LLC, Lee Mei Yong Debbie, Sambhavi Rajangam, See Tow Soo Ling

Source: [2023] SGHC 40, High Court (General Division), decided 21 February 2023 — eLitigation. Updated 10 July 2026.

Catchwords

Contempt of court — Sentencing Contempt of court — Disobedience of order of court

Practice Areas

Contempt of court

Judges (1)

S Mohan Delivered

Counsel (5)

CNPLaw LLP Firm

Millennium Law LLC Firm

Lee Mei Yong Debbie Counsel for the defendant

Sambhavi Rajangam Counsel for the plaintiff See Tow Soo Ling Counsel for the plaintiff

Parties (9)

Black Diamond Capital Pte Ltd Defendant

Plasma Innovation Labs Pte Ltd Defendant

SpaceSATS Pte Ltd Plaintiff

Chan Chia Sern Defendant

Goh Wei Jie Defendant

Huang Shiyong Defendant

Oleksii Cherkun (Alex) Defendant

Wei Deyuan Defendant

Xu Luxiang Defendant

Case Significance

In SpaceSATS Pte Ltd v Chan Chia Sern and others [2023] SGHC 40, the General Division of the High Court considered a committal application, HC/SUM 5179/2021, in Suit No 349 of 2020, heard by S Mohan J with judgment reserved on 21 February 2023. The plaintiff, SpaceSATS Pte Ltd — a joint venture between Plasma Innovation Labs Pte Ltd (PILS) and Black Diamond Capital Pte Ltd — sought to have the first defendant, Dr Chan Chia Sern, committed to prison and/or fined for breaching a court order, HC/ORC 4159/2021. The application was brought against Dr Chan both personally and in his capacity as PILS's sole director, engaging the law on contempt of court through disobedience of a court order and the applicable sentencing considerations.

Summary

SpaceSATS Pte Ltd, a joint venture developing micro plasma thrusters for small satellites, applied to commit its former CEO Dr Chan Chia Sern for contempt for breaching a court order, brought against him personally and as sole director of the second defendant. The court found Dr Chan liable for intentionally disobeying several paragraphs of the order, sentenced him to two months' imprisonment for certain breaches and a $2,000 fine for another, ordered surrender of his passport, and fixed costs of $15,000.

What was the contempt application in SpaceSATS v Chan Chia Sern about ([2023] SGHC 40)?

SpaceSATS Pte Ltd applied under HC/SUM 5179/2021 to have the first defendant, Dr Chan Chia Sern, committed to prison and/or fined for breaching court order HC/ORC 4159/2021. The application named him personally and as sole director of Plasma Innovation Labs Pte Ltd.

Which judge heard SpaceSATS Pte Ltd v Chan Chia Sern ([2023] SGHC 40)?

S Mohan J of the General Division of the High Court heard the committal application in Suit No 349 of 2020, reserving judgment on 21 February 2023. The matter concerned contempt of court through disobedience of a court order and sentencing.