News
Court of Appeal reserves order on Lawyer Hizbullah’s bail application till Monday
By Chitra Weerarathne
The Court of Appeal yesterday (02) reserved for Monday the order in respect of the application for bail filed by Attorney-at-Law Hejaaz Hizbullah.
The application says Hizbullah was under detention before being indicted in the High Court of Puttalam and remanded. He has been refused bail by the High Court of Puttalam and consequently he has appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Romesh de Silva, President’s Counsel who appeared for Hizbullah, told the Court of Appeal that his client had been in remand for over two years without a reasonable allegation to go through such an ordeal.
The Attorney General on 20 January said he would not object to bail for Hizbullah. The Court of Appeal then conveyed to the High Court of Puttalam that the AG had consented to bail. But up to now Hizbullah has been in remand.
It was argued that he had been baselessly accused of holding Arabic Classes for children in Puttalam. He has also been falsely connected to the attempt to bomb the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo, in April 2019. But what had happened was the suspected bomber had been a client of Hizbullah.
President’s Counsel, Romesh de Silva told the Court of Appeal that the Prevention of Terrorism Act, did not prevent the Court of Appeal from granting bail. The Attorney General had consented to bail.
The Counsel stressed that Article 15 (2) of the Constitution granted unlimited powers to the Court of Appeal to grant bail. The sovereignty was in the people according to Article (3) of the Constitution. The legislature should not encroach on the judiciary since the sovereignty was in the people. The powers of the Court of Appeal to revise was inherent, he said.
Romesh de Silva appeared with Niran Anketell, Vasantha Kumar Niles, Harith de Mel and Shanaka Cooray, instructed by Sanath Wijewardene Associates. Additional Solicitor General Rohantha Abeysuriya PC appeared for the Attorney General. The Bench comprised Justice Menaka Wijesundera and Justice Neil Iddawela.
A four-member police team has been appointed to investigate the allegations against IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon. The team will assist the committee in conducting the ongoing investigations.The appointment was made following a request from the relevant parliamentary committee to the Acting IGP.
The Committee of Inquiry, chaired by Supreme Court Justice P.P. Surasena, consists of Justice W. M. N. P. Iddawala and the Chairman of the National Police Commission (Ex-officio), E. W. M. Lalith Ekanayake. The Resolution to appoint a Committee of Inquiry in terms of Section 5 of the Removal of Officers (Procedure) Act, No. 5 of 2002, to remove Tennakoon from the office of the Inspector General of Police for misconduct and gross abuse of power of his office in terms of Sections 3(d) and 3(e) read with Section 5 of the said Act, was passed in Parliament on 8 April.
UNP Chairman and former Minister Wajira Abeywardena says that the end is near for the JVP/NPP government.Speaking at a UNP rally held in Thalpitiya, Galle, on Saturday, Abeywardena said that the JVP/NPP government had become dysfunctional.
“It has not done anything new. It has been following what the UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe did as the President. It’s like an incompetent student copying from the notebook of a bright student,” he said. “Sure, the weak student might scrape through an exam, but when faced with a new problem, he’s completely lost. That’s exactly where this government stands. They copied Ranil Wickremesinghe’s governing style, but when real challenges arise, they have no answers.”
Abeywardena said all that JVP/NPP members could do was to keep on blaming the previous administrations for corruption. “They keep ranting about corrupt former rulers. But during those times, a coconut was Rs. 80. Today, under these supposedly ‘clean’ leaders, it costs Rs. 250.”
The UNP Chairman said that recently when there was a nationwide power outage, the Energy Minister had claimed that it had been caused by a monkey. “Even a schoolchild wouldn’t make up such a ridiculous lie,” Abeywardena said. “This bizarre excuse made international headlines, bringing shame to our country.” He said that the economic crisis was likely to deepen in the coming months. “Economists have predicted a downturn by November or December, and this government has no plan to face it,” he said. “Just like a weak student, they can only copy Ranil Wickremesinghe. Beyond that, they’re clueless.”
More than 10% of students who sat the 2024 G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) Examination failed to secure even a simple pass each in any of their main subjects.Commissioner General of Examinations Amith Jayasundara told media yesterday that 29,244 candidates — or 10.66% of the total — had failed in all three main subjects.
“It is concerning that such a large number of students are failing each year, especially considering the significant investment made by the state in the education sector,” Jayasundara said.
Out of the 331,850 students who sat for the examination, only 9,458 candidates (3.45%) obtained ‘A’ passes in all three main subjects.
Despite the number of failures, there was a positive trend in university eligibility. A total of 177,588 candidates — or 64.73% — qualified to apply for university admission, indicating an increase compared to last year’s figures.
The results of the 2024 A/L examination were released online on Saturday evening.
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