Who am I?

I am Chirag Sidhpura, a former sub-postmaster. You may have heard of the Post Office Scandal, which left many people like me devastated when faulty accounting software led to accusations of theft and accounting discrepancies. 

The Post Office has been forced to admit that they were wrong to accuse hundreds of postmasters and yet still justice has not been done.

My case

I'm looking for your support for a judicial review of the process the Post Office is using to seek to compensate former sub-postmasters that it maligned and cheated.  The process is fundamentally flawed and seeks to further the mistreatment of us. If I win this case it will affect all of us cheated by the Post Office.

My story 

From January 2013 to February 2018, I worked as a sub-postmaster for the PO at Sids News, running the branch at Farncombe in Surrey. The Post Office sacked me after it claimed to have identified a shortfall in the branch account of over £57,000 through its Horizon accounting software. The Post Office had, itself, secretly determined before this that Horizon was"not fit for purpose".

In a damning judgment last December Fraser J found the PO's defence of Horizon "inaccurate" and "misleading". He expressed "grave concerns" over the evidence presented on behalf of the Post Office. The full judgment can be seen here The result is that the Metropolitan Police are assessing evidence of perjury. 

The Post Office is owned and controlled by the Government. It proudly announces that it is "backed by Government funding" and it spent £120 million of that funding on fighting the court case against it.

The Post Office has been heavily criticised in Parliament with calls for it to properly compensate those that have suffered at its hands. That suffering has included criminal convictions and bankruptcies at the hands of the Post Office. One MP said that the "Post Office executives used ‘grotesque predatory capitalism’ throughout Horizon IT scandal".

What's at stake?

The compensation scheme for postmasters is being administered through a system established by the Post Office. The lawyers in control of it are the very lawyers who last year were protesting the Post Office's innocence. The system is flawed and must be changed. 

Through this judicial review I am seeking to do that and secure a fair, transparent and public system for sub-postmasters.  The Post Office described the scandal to the Court as "an existential threat" to its business. It is seeking to bury this process as deeply as possible with a view to paying as little as possible to those that the victims like me.

The Post Office actions left me broke and I do not have the funds to meet what the Post Office will throw at me. They spent over £120 million of public money on losing the court battle.  

How can you help?

This will be a truly David and Goliath battle. I really need your help to ensure justice for all victims of this wrong. 

I have commenced the judicial review proceedings and are waiting on the court for permission to proceed.  We need your help: please contribute and share this page now!

Thank you for your support.