News

BASL takes exception to Justice Ganepola being denied a place in SC

Published

3 weeks ago

2026/08/31

… highlights injustice caused to Justice R. Gurusinghe

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has alleged that due to the failure on the part of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to fill the existing vacancies in the Supreme Court, a Senior Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dhammika Ganepola, retired at the age of 63 without being considered for, or granted, a promotion to the Supreme Court, to which he was well entitled. The BASL pointed out at the time of Ganepola’s retirement there were four vacancies in the Supreme Court.

In a letter dated 17 August, 2026, addressed to President Dissanayake, the BASL declared that the failure to promote and recognise Ganepola’s distinguished judicial service, resulting in his retirement at the age of 63, is indeed a loss to the Judiciary.

A top BASL spokesman told The Island yesterday (30) that the Bar Council, over the weekend, had decided to release the hitherto confidential letter.

The official said that they also wanted to remind the President of his assurance given to BASL, on 12 August, 2026, that vacancies in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal would be filled as soon as possible, within a month.

The following is the text of the BASL letter, signed by Rajeev Amarasuriya, President, BASL, and its Secretary Nalin De Silva: “We write further to our letters dated 29th December 2025 and 30th June 2026 in relation to the above, to which we have not received any response.

We also refer to our meeting with Your Excellency on 12th August. As discussed during the meeting, there have been vacancies in the Supreme Court since May 2025, and the number of vacancies has now increased to four (04). There are also four (04) vacancies in the Court of Appeal. These are all matters we have already written to Your Excellency about.

Your Excellency informed the BASL Delegation when we met that you would be taking steps to make recommendations to fill these vacancies as soon as possible, within a month.

We write to reiterate the importance of giving due consideration to the criteria set out in our aforesaid letter dated 29th December 2025. We also wish to emphasise that, in making judicial appointments and promotions, seniority should be given due priority, in keeping with longstanding practice, until such time there are objective and defensible guidelines governing the assessment of merit.

The only justifiable departure to this criterion would be where there exists a specific and recognized demerit in respect of the particular Judge concerned or such other known compelling circumstances that are objectively identifiable such as where a Judge has previously been overlooked for promotion unfairly or conversely, where a Judge has been unfairly previously granted promotions above others.

This approach will safeguard both the integrity of the Judiciary and the trust reposed in it by the public.

Further, while there has been considerable discussion and representation by the Government regarding the importance of retaining experienced judges, as reminded to Your Excellency at our said meeting that, only a few months ago on 8th May 2026, a Senior Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dhammika Ganepola, retired at the age of 63 without being considered for, or granted, a promotion to the Supreme Court, to which he was well entitled, and in which there were four vacancies at the time.

The failure to promote and recognise his distinguished judicial service, resulting in his retirement at the age of 63, is indeed a loss to the Judiciary.

We also drew Your Excellency’s attention at the said meeting to the fact that the Senior-most Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice R. Gurusinghe, who joined the Judicial Service in 1996, who also Acted in the Office of President of the Court of Appeal (appointed by Your Excellency) on 11th May 2026, is due to retire at the end of this month. In fact, we learnt through the Media that Her Ladyship then Chief Justice Justice Murdu Fernando, PC, had previously in July 2025 recommended to Your Excellency the promotion of Justice R. Gurusinghe to the Supreme Court, but the same is pending from that time.

He too is well deserving of promotion to the Supreme Court and has already been recommended by the former Chief Justice, and his case must also receive due and urgent consideration before his impending retirement.

We hope that Your Excellency will take due note of and give due regard to the concerns of the Bar, as well as to the established principles, practices and conventions governing judicial appointments, when taking steps to fill these vacancies.

On this, Your Excellency is already open to the accusation that these vacancies have been kept open, to fill with favourites of the Government which is yet another serious indictment on the independence of the judiciary which accusation would be confirmed if recommendations are made outside established practice.

Moreover, the BASL expresses grave concern that withholding promotions of Judicial Officers for extended periods of time places undue pressure on Judicial Officers in the discharge of their duties and constitutes both directly and indirectly, interference with the independence of the Judiciary, in addition to the strain obviously caused to the dispensation of justice in other Courts and the stifling and delay of career progression of Judges legitimately entitled to promotions.

We do hope that Your Excellency would take due note and cognizance of the foregoing when effecting these judicial promotions which have been long overdue and which have already adversely impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of justice.”

The BASL has copied the letter to Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and all members of the Constitutional Council.

All News Advertisement

News

Govt. confident of 2/3 majority despite NPP split speculation

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Anura / Harini

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The ruling NPP yesterday (21) dismissed claims of a widening rift, within the government, over the proposed 22nd Amendment. Asked whether the NPP was concerned over a section of the Opposition alleging Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and two dozen MPs taking a view contrary to that of the party in this regard, authoritative party sources said some persons were propagating speculation for their own interest.

Declaring that there was absolutely no issue regarding the controversial Amendment, sources emphasised once it was tabled in Parliament, it would be passed with 2/3 majority.

Sources dismissed claims that out of its 159-member parliamentary group a section of NPPers was opposed to the government move. According to an influential Opposition activist, there are 57 JVPers and 66 NPPers in the government group and the rest contested the last parliamentary polls, having aligned with the JVP.

Ministerial sources told The Island that the government was confident of going ahead with the 22nd Amendment and Judicature (Amendment) Bills. Sources said that the NPP was not bothered about the Opposition protests in and outside Parliament.

Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne is expected to disclose the confidential ruling that he received from the Supreme Court in respect of more than 65 petitions for and against the 22nd Amendment and Judicial Amendment Bills. The enactment of the 22nd Amendment would pave the way for extending the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, from 65 to 67 years, and Court of Appeal judges, from 63 to 65 years.

News

Justice Corea appointed Acting President of the Court of Appeal

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Court of Appeal Judge M. Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea receives his letter of appointment

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Court of Appeal Judge Mayadunna Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal.

The appointment has been made as President’s Counsel Nalin Rohantha Abeysuriya, who currently serves as President of the Court of Appeal, will be overseas until the 24th.

Accordingly Justice Mayadunna Corea was sworn in as Acting President of the Court of Appeal before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential secretariat last morning (21).

Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was also present at the occasion.

News

Protest against setting up of cement factory in highly populated area near BIA

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

The cement factory premises located in close proximity to a school and the lagoon

… school alleges deception

What began quietly as a single-storey tourist hotel, on the edge of Katunayake-Seeduwa has, five years later, morphed into a looming five-storey cement factory and with it, a storm of fear, anger and unanswered questions.

At a media briefing held on 19 September at St. Thomas International School, Seeduwa, the community finally found its voice. The gathering included priests, school principals, environmental defenders, and parents whose children study within a few hundred metres of the site.

The briefing was led by Rev. Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando, Director of National and Archdiocesan Catholic Social Communications, Rev. Fr. Nilantha Heshan, Director of the Archdiocesan Sethsarana Institute, Dinusha Nanayakkara, Convener of the Archdiocesan Committee for the Protection of Muthurajawela, and Attorney-at-Law Ms. Isuri Rodrigo.

Their message was clear: This is not a campaign against development.

“We Are Not Against Cement. We Are Against Deception.”

“Cement is an essential raw material for the country. We have no opposition to any such factory or production plant,” they told the media. “But what we cannot agree to is a project of this magnitude, in this location, without any proper environmental assessment.”

The speakers alleged a textbook case of deception, obtaining approvals for a low-impact tourist hotel, in one of the most densely populated educational zones in the Katunayake-Seeduwa Municipal Council area, and then transforming it into a heavy industrial plant.

“In an area where thousands of schoolchildren study, to show one thing on paper and build another is a highly fraudulent procedure. It is clear that the real environmental damage and the truth have been hidden from the people,” they said.

With the sea and lagoon winds that sweep across Seeduwa, experts fear these fine particles will not stay confined to the factory walls. They will drift across classrooms, homes, and the Katunayake Free Trade Zone, where thousands of workers, representing all 25 districts of Sri Lanka, work every day.

“The risk is not local. It is national. We are talking about a future generation of children with respiratory illnesses, and workers developing chronic breathing disorders,” one speaker warned.

Rev. Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando, Director of National & Archdiocesan Catholic Social Communications, responding to journalists

Then there is the proximity that defies logic, just 500 metres from the Bandaranaike International Airport.

The panel presented a scientific concern that has aviation experts worried: a significant drop in air quality around the airport and its runway, and the severe risk to highly sensitive aircraft engines when they ingest air mixed with cement dust. What is at stake, they argued, is not just health but the economy itself.

“When you weigh it deeply, the economic contribution of an international airport is far higher than that of a cement factory. If international airlines start to avoid Katunayake due to safety and air quality concerns, it will be a fatal blow to our country’s economy,” they emphasised.

A few minutes away lies another victim the Negombo Lagoon and the Muthurajawela wetlands, Sri Lanka’s largest and most sensitive coastal ecosystem.

The panel warned that cement dust settling on the mangrove system could degrade water quality, disrupt the delicate salinity balance, and directly interfere with fish breeding grounds. For the fishing communities of Negombo, whose lives depend on the lagoon, this is an existential threat.

“The lagoon is a nursery. If its water quality drops, fish will not breed. If fish do not breed, an entire fishing community collapses,” they said.

The speakers alleged that while the developers claim to have approvals from various state institutions, many of the mandatory clearances, particularly comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments and feasibility reports, have not been obtained.

They stressed they are not calling for an end to investment, but for it to be done right.

“We have no objection to this factory being started in another suitable location where it will not cause these environmental impacts, based on proper feasibility and assessment reports. Stop this construction here and move it,” was the unanimous demand.

The appeal has now been directed again to the President, the government, and all responsible state institutions and officials.

As the briefing ended, one image lingered — a school playground, a lagoon, and a towering cement structure rising between them. It is a scary picture for the people of Seeduwa; they asks a simple question: What price are we willing to pay for development that doesn’t breathe?