News
SC to be moved on basis of CA judge’s dissenting views
Diana’s citizenship issue : petitioner questions UK’s response to CID’s request for assistance
Civil society activist Oshala Herath yesterday (05) said he would move the Supreme Court soon against the dismissal of a case seeking disqualification of SJB MP Diana Gamage over a citizenship issue.The Court of Appeal dismissed the case filed by the defeated Colombo district UNP candidate, in a majority decision last week. Justice K.K.A.V. Swarnadhipathi agreed with the President of the Court of Appeal Nissanka Bandula Karunarathna to dismiss the case, whereas Justice M.A. R. Marikkar offered a different opinion.
Justice Marikkar stated that the petitioner had produced sufficient material to show that State Minister Gamage had not secured Sri Lankan citizenship and/or renounced her British citizenship. As against the documents and the material produced by the petitioner, the State Minister had failed to prove that she was a citizen of Sri Lanka, Justice Marikkar stressed.
The SJB accommodated Gamage on its National List (NL) following the last general election. She is one of the seven SJB NL members who have switched their allegiance to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Justice Marikkar has pointed out that it was the duty of the State Minister to prove her citizenship rather than challenging the petitioner’s position. He stressed that the petitioner had proved a prima facie case against the State Minister, and as such, he could not agree with the decision of the CA President.
Herath told The Island that he would appeal to the Supreme Court primarily on the basis of dissenting views expressed by Justice Marikkar.
Herath said that the British government had declined to assist relevant authorities in ascertaining the State Minister’s citizenship. Referring to a document submitted to court by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in March this year, Herath said that the law enforcement authorities through the Justice Ministry and Foreign Ministry had sought the UK’s assistance in terms of bilatral agreement in this regard but failed at least to receive a response. (SF)
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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