The Rent Act is put on hold following petitions from Prime Lands, Home Candy, and others.

The Attorney General officially informed the Supreme Court yesterday (09) that the government has decided to reconsider the Residents' Protection Bill. This statement was made when five fundamental rights petitions filed against the bill were called before a bench of Supreme Court Justices Mahinda Samayawardena, Arjuna Obeyesekere, and Sampath Abeykoon.

There, Additional Solicitor General, President's Counsel Sumathi Dharmawardena, appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, informed the court that the government intends to subject the draft bill to a comprehensive review by a special committee comprising representatives of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and subject matter experts from relevant fields. The Additional Solicitor General also pledged before the court that no further steps would be taken to pass the bill until the review process is completed.

These petitions were filed through Attorney Dinesh de Silva by companies such as Prime Land and Home Kandy, as well as other parties involved in building leasing businesses, with the Attorney General named as the respondent. The petitioners had pointed out that the proposed bill has been included in the Parliament's order paper and that some of its provisions violate their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Therefore, they also requested an order stating that a special parliamentary majority vote and a referendum would be required to pass this bill.

However, considering the Attorney General's agreement not to proceed with the draft until it is reviewed, the petitioners expressed their willingness to withdraw their petitions. Accordingly, after the lawyers for the petitioners informed the court that the relevant petitions had been withdrawn, the Supreme Court concluded the hearing of those petitions.

During the hearing of these petitions, President's Counsel Upul Kumarapperuma, President's Counsel Faizer Mustapha, Attorney Niranjan Aroopaprakasam, and Attorney Weerakkody appeared on behalf of the petitioners, instructed by Attorney Dinesh de Silva.