News

Sumanthiran asks Ali Sabry to resign

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

By Saman Indrajith

TNA Jaffna District MP MA Sumanthiran yesterday called on Justice Minister Ali Sabry to resign from his post.

“I do not think you can sell your dignity and continue to hold the office of Justice Minister, merely telling the country or your community that you are trying to resign but you are unable to do so. It is a joke. It doesn’t do you any good. So, my plea to you, even in this august assembly I can address you my learned friend, is to stand up straight and resign immediately, if possible, before these sessions are over,” MP Sumanthiran said.

Participating in the third-reading-stage debate on Budget 2022 under the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Justice, MP Sumanthiran said the Minister of Justice was very uncomfortable in that post. “I reiterate what I said last year, that the Minister of Justice must be feeling as if he is the minister of ports and shipping of Afghanistan. We saw in the media that the Minister of Justice said that he is trying to resign. It is very strange when a person tries to resign and is unable to resign. A member of the legal profession, he should know how to resign. What is there trying to resign and not being able to resign? That is what we read in the media. The Minister of Justice does not know how to resign. It is very strange. All these point to the fact that the Minister of Justice is uncomfortable to hold that post in the current regime. I do not blame him for that.

“The government, for all its rhetoric, has unashamedly interfered in the process of administration of justice in this country. I read the news that former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda is tipped to succeed former Governor Raja Kollure, who passed away recently. Wasantha Karannagoda is an accused, a suspect in one of the emblematic cases in this country. The case is about the abduction of eleven youth for ransom by naval personnel in Colombo. They were taken to Trincomalee Naval Base and killed. Now, the police, having conducted their investigations, have named several suspects including the Navy Commander at the time.

“Inexplicably, the Attorney General is in a mighty hurry, an indecent hurry, trying to withdraw indictments or has indicated that he would withdraw indictments against Wasantha Karannagoda. The families of these young men have been agitating for justice for so long. It is such a person the government wants to appoint as a governor.

“Not only that, but also many indictments filed during the time of the last government by the then Attorney General, for incidentally who is the Chief Justice today, are being withdrawn by the current Attorney General. As soon as he was appointed to that post, the first thing he did was withdrawing indictments filed against the members of the current government.

“The Attorney General is supposed to be independent in our country. The appointment is supposed to be independent and during his tenure he is supposed to be independent. Unlike in many other countries, we have our own traditions which stipulates that the Attorney General is an independent appointee. Even in Great Britain and India the Attorney General is a political appointee. Yet, in those countries even the attorney generals are political appointees and we find them act independently after their appointments. Here its reverse seems to be true.

“The Minister protested against the appointment of another convict who was pardoned. He was convicted for contempt of court where he was sentenced following a complaint made by a magistrate for disturbing the proceedings in a court. The learned Magistrate complained to the Court of Appeal and after a full-blown inquiry where the venerable monk was afforded a hearing, he was conducted and sentenced. And then he was pardoned. He has another case currently pending before the Court of Appeal where he violated the order in the Magistrate’s Court in Mullaitivu and facilitated the cremation of the body of another monk in the premises of a Hindu temple. Such a person the government finds suitable enough to be appointed to the post of Chairman in a task force. Naturally, the minister protested, also for the reason I suppose he was not consulted. Originally, no Tamil was appointed to this task force, which was a good thing. I do not think any self-respecting Tamil would have served in this task force. But as it often happens, we find every kind of person in any community. And so, the government found three persons who buried their dignity and went and sat in this task force. I say this because this task force is captioned as one country one law. Most people think that this has to do something with personal laws. It is far worse than that.

“The government says it is committed to devolution of powers. It has been saying so to the international community. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa when he was the president assured India repeatedly in three joint statements and in another joint statement with the Secretary General of the United Nations, he made a promise to enhance devolution. If that is the case, then there can’t be one country with one law.

“Even in this broken system under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and this provincial council system which we do not accept, there is legislative power over certain subjects that are devolved to the provinces. The provinces can make their own laws in respect of matters in the provincial council list and even on the matters that come under the concurrent list. We have been saying that the matters that have been devolved to the provinces must be exclusively devolved to the provinces and the provinces must be supreme in respect of those issues. The legislative power that has been given to them must be supreme. The Center ought not to override those powers. But that is not the case, the Center with two thirds majority can override it as we saw in the Divi Neguma case and various other instances. Nevertheless, in our constitution we have legislative powers devolved to the provinces. And the government has promised to devolve more powers to the provinces. While that is the case on one hand, the government has appointed a task force to ensure one country one law. It runs contrary to the current constitutional arrangement and contrary to the various promises you are dishing out to the world that you would enhance devolution. That is why I said that any self-respecting Tamil would serve in that one country-one law task force. For various reasons people would go and sell their dignity. Some Muslims too have been appointed to the task force.

“At the original appointment, no Tamil was appointed to that task force. We were elated that no Tamil has been appointed to that task force. Later some people added – that is afterthoughts. Does it mean that Tamils are afterthoughts of this country? We have been living in this country longer than many other communities. This country belongs to us as it belongs to anybody else. We are not afterthoughts of this country.

“This task force we reject; in fact we do not have to say so because of the caliber of the person who had been appointed to chair it. We do not think you can continue to sell our dignity and serve in this office,” MP Sumanthiran said tod the Justice Minister.

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News

INS Airavat makes port call in Colombo

Published

14 hours ago

2026/06/4

Priyan

The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Airavat arrived at the Port of Colombo for Operational Turnaround on 01 Jun 26. The visiting ship was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in compliance with time-noured naval traditions.

INS Airavat is a Landing Ship Tank, commanded by Commander IP Patil.

During their stay in the island, the ship’s crew is scheduled to take part in a series of professionally enriching events and camaraderie-building programmes organised by the Sri Lanka Navy.

The Indian naval personnel will also tour several historic and prominent tourist attractions across the country before the ship concludes her deployment.

News

BASL asks govt. to abandon plan to raise retirement ages of CA and SC judges

Published

19 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

… tells Prez such arbitrary change neither necessary nor desirable

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to abandon the controversial plan to increase the retirement age of the judiciary, including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

In a statement issued by the BASL President Rajeev Amarasuriya and its Secretary Nalin de Silva, the BASL pointed out that the proposed increase of the retirement age of the judiciary would undermine the independence, integrity, dignity, and public confidence in the Judiciary, which is essential for the maintenance of the Rule of Law and democratic governance in Sri Lanka.

The text of the BASL statement: “The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred to as “BASL”) notes with grave concern reports in the public domain that the Government is considering the introduction of an amendment to the Constitution to increase the age of retirement of Judges of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

It is the considered view of the BASL that the age of retirement of the judges of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which has stood at 63 years and 65 years respectively from the promulgation of the 1978 Constitution, should not be changed arbitrarily and that such a change is neither necessary nor desirable.

To do so will result in the loss of public confidence in the integrity of the legal system and of the Government’s commitment to preserve and protect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. Members of the public are likely to question the motives of the Government in bringing in a Constitutional amendment solely for this purpose.

Your Excellency is no doubt aware that the cadre of the Judges of the Court of Appeal was increased from 12 to 20 Judges (including the President of the Court of Appeal) and that of the Supreme Court from 11 to 17 Judges (including the Chief Justice) by the 20th Amendment to the constitution certified on 29th of October 2020. With such enhancement, workwise, there cannot be a real requirement to extend the retirement ages of these judges.

Your Excellency is aware that altering the retirement age of judges of the apex courts would have to be done through a Constitutional amendment. For many years Sri Lanka’s Constitution has been subject to ad hoc amendments, sometimes in order to cater to the political needs of the government in power and often contrary to the interests of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the judiciary.

Extending the retirement age of the sitting Judges of these Courts at this point of time is likely to be viewed by the public as a blatant attempt to interfere with the judiciary. We believe that to go ahead with such an ad hoc move will also be an affront to the Honourable Judges of those courts.

If the Government goes ahead with such a move it will set a dangerous precedent for future Governments too to introduce ad hoc amendments to the Constitution in respect of the functions of the Judiciary.

The independence of the Judiciary and the public confidence reposed in it, are indispensable pillars of the Rule of Law and the democratic framework of our Republic. In that regard, it is of paramount importance that the Judiciary must not only remain independent in fact, but must also be seen by the public to be wholly independent, impartial, and free from even the slightest perception of influence, favour, accommodation, or impropriety.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka is therefore constrained, in the discharge of its duty to uphold and safeguard the Rule of Law and the independence of the Judiciary, to respectfully express its serious concern regarding any such proposed amendment, which is neither in the interests of the Judiciary and nor of the people.

In the circumstances, the BASL respectfully urges Your Excellency not to proceed with any proposed constitutional amendment seeking to increase the retirement age of the members of the Judiciary including Judges of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

We remain confident that Your Excellency will give due consideration to the importance of preserving and protecting the independence, integrity, dignity, and public confidence in the Judiciary, which is essential to the maintenance of the Rule of Law and democratic governance in Sri Lanka.”

Govt. declines to respond

A member of the Cabinet yesterday declined to comment on the BASL’s letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The Minister said that he wouldn’t comment for the time being.

News

New US tariffs proposed on 60 countries, including Sri Lanka

Published

19 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

12.5% additional duties on goods imported from Colombo

The US has proposed additional duties of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies, including Sri Lanka, over their alleged failure to curb trade in ‌goods made with forced labour.

The proposal made by US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office in terms of Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation to be released, news agencies reported, pointing out that the Trump administration was seeking to rebuild its emergency tariffs, which were struck down by a US Supreme Court decision in February.

The USTR said it determined that it would impose 10% duties related to ⁠the forced labour investigation on imports from Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Britain.

The trade agency said it would impose additional duties of 12.5% on the remaining 45 countries that were investigated.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.”

According to the trade agency, the USTR found that Sri Lanka has failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition.

The USTR noted that the results of its investigation indicate that the acts, policies and practices of Sri Lanka related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition are unreasonable and burden or restrict US commerce.

Accordingly, it has proposed to impose 12.5% additional duties on goods imported from Sri Lanka.

The USTR said it also was proposing a textile mechanism that would allow for a certain volume of apparel and textile imports ‌to ⁠enter the US at a reduced tariff rate, though the duties and volumes were not disclosed.

The announcement comes ahead of the July 24 expiration of a 10% temporary tariff imposed by the Trump administration on February 20, the day the Supreme Court struck down US President Donald Trump’s tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

On Monday, the USTR proposed ⁠a 25% duty on many Brazilian goods as a result of a Section 301 investigation into the country’s digital trade practices and preferential tariffs. The trade agency is also expected to soon unveil the findings of another major Section 301 probe into ⁠the buildup of excess industrial capacity in 16 trading partners, including China.

In the forced labour findings, the USTR said it would exempt from the tariffs a number of products, including energy, rare earths and certain ⁠other metals, beef, coffee, certain fruits and vegetables, pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals and aircraft parts.

The USTR said it would accept public comments on the proposed tariffs and other remedies through July 6, with a public hearing scheduled for July 7.