President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday said that the judiciary should not interfere with the affairs of the Executive.

Speaking at a ceremony where freehold land deeds were distributed under the Urumaya at the Mahiyangana Public Stadium, the President said it was Parliament that had judiciary powers.

President Wickremesinghe highlighted the history of the Urumaya programme, which was initiated in 2002 and 2003 but was subsequently halted due to a court decision.

Wickremesinghe said that if the programme had been implemented 20 years back, the people could have been granted free land rights earlier.

“The Urumaya programme was launched in this country in 2002 and 2003 but it was suspended due to a court decision. I acted according to the Land Development Ordinance, which was prepared by my grandfather, C L Wickremesinghe, who served as the Government Agent in the North Central Province at that time.

“D. S. Senanayake, then the Minister of Agriculture, visited Anuradhapura to inspect the old tanks, some of which had been renovated while others, including the Parakrama Samudraya were slated for renovation. Thereafter, the focus of the government shifted to settling the people in that area.

“During this period, D.S. Senanayake informed my grandfather of the establishment of a new department called the Land Development Department and instructed him to take charge of it and draft the necessary laws. My grandfather prepared and passed those laws, became the first Land Development Commissioner, and settled the people in the area. The aim was to provide land to the landless people of the wet zone, establish villages in these areas, and develop both the wet zone and the newly established villages. This law was created to achieve that goal.

“When I reviewed his files, I discovered a significant issue: many people in Sri Lanka at that time could not read or write. Consequently, various individuals exploited them by including them in agreements one by one and attempting to seize their land through loans. To address this, the land licence system was created.

“The situation in 1935 was vastly different from today. Now, every family in this country has well-educated members, including graduates, doctors, and lawyers. Therefore, such exploitation is unlikely to happen today. However, back then, the lack of education made people vulnerable to such schemes.

“We implemented this programme when we started the Mahaweli movement.

However, after 10-15 years, it was no longer necessary as people protected their lands. I believed they would not sell their land, but eventually, people began to expect land rights. This necessitated a new law to provide these lands under the Land Development Ordinance. I presented the draft law, but the Supreme Court ruled that a referendum was necessary to pass such legislation.

“If we had been given the opportunity to implement that programme back then, we could have confirmed freehold land rights for the people 20 years ago. However, foreign investors were later given free land instead. If it was possible to allocate government land to the Shangri-La Hotel under the Land Ordinance, why can’t I, as the President, grant land rights to two million people?

“Some have warned that this matter will go to court, but it’s important to remember that the authority lies not with the court but with Parliament. I have always maintained that the judiciary should not interfere with the executive.

In 1978, Minister Gamini Dissanayake initiated the Uluhitiya project here. Today, I am here to start the programme of giving freehold land deeds to all those who came from Uluhitiya. This is your right, not a government favour,” he said.