Will Ananda Wijepala lose his parliamentary seat? Petition for hearing

The Supreme Court has granted permission to hear a special appeal petition seeking the annulment of Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala's parliamentary seat. This petition was filed by Mr. Renuka Perera, former administrative secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, and the court has scheduled it to be heard on November 03.

However, the court rejected the interim order sought to prevent the minister from functioning in Parliament.

This special appeal petition was considered before a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Janak Silva, Menaka Wijesundara, and Sampath Wijeratne. The petitioner points out that Mr. Ananda Wijepala's act of serving as the Chief of Presidential Staff while holding a parliamentary seat is a violation of constitutional provisions. The Minister of Public Security and others have been named as respondents in this case.

Attorney Vishwa Vimukthi, appearing for the petitioner, stated that serving as the Chief of Presidential Staff while holding a parliamentary seat is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, making the appointment entirely illegal. Therefore, the attorney argued before the court that the minister should be immediately removed from his parliamentary seat.

Responding to this, Deputy Solicitor General Rajiv Perera, appearing for the Attorney General, stated that the Court of Appeal had initially rejected the petition filed before it regarding this matter. The Court of Appeal had rejected the petition based on fundamental objections, including that an appointment made by the President cannot be challenged, essential parties were not named as respondents, and it was time-barred. Furthermore, the Deputy Solicitor General added that the Minister of Defence was not appointed to this position while holding a parliamentary seat, but afterwards, and therefore no constitutional provision has been violated.

After carefully considering the arguments presented by both parties, the Supreme Court finally granted permission to hear this special appeal petition. In this hearing, Attorney Vishwa Vimukthi appeared for the petitioner, President's Counsel Geoffrey Alagaratnam appeared for Minister Ananda Wijepala, and Deputy Solicitor General Rajiv Perera appeared for the Attorney General.