An interim injunction preventing Tiran's arrest

The Court of Appeal has issued an interim injunction preventing the arrest of Mr. Tiran Alles, a former minister and the Managing Director of Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd. The court took this step after considering a writ petition filed on the 30th, requesting to prevent his arrest based on an alleged financial transaction between two private companies.

A complaint received regarding the dishonoring of cheques allegedly issued by Ceylon Newspapers for the purchase of paper to print 'Mawbima' and 'Ceylon Today' newspapers has formed the basis for this legal process.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the entire staff, including journalists, working in this media network owned by Mr. Tiran Alles, are currently facing severe economic difficulties. The main reason for this is the institution's failure to pay their monthly salaries for several months, as well as their Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) contributions for several years.

By continuously failing to deposit Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) contributions, the relevant management has seriously violated the country's labor laws, and the Department of Labor has confirmed that it has already received numerous complaints regarding this matter.

Against this backdrop, while the issue of unpaid employee salaries and provident fund contributions continues to worsen, the institutional management made an urgent decision to completely halt the printing of the 'Mawbima' daily newspaper and shut it down on March 05th. Due to this unexpected step, the livelihoods of a large number of employees who depended on the institution, as well as their family members, are currently at severe risk.