Ranjan’s appeal against verdict of Highest Court not valid: Speaker

• The Appeal Court has not accepted the appeal filed by Mr. Ramanayake

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

MP Ranjan Ramanayake convicted of contempt of court cannot attend Parliamentary sessions as the appeal he had made against the Supreme Court is not a valid one, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene told Parliament yesterday.   

“There is no provision for anyone to file an appeal against the verdict given by the Supreme Court. One could only file an appeal against the verdict given by a court which is lower than that of the Supreme Court,” the Speaker said.  “The Appeal Court has not accepted the appeal filed by Mr. Ramanayake while only a motion filed by him has been accepted,” he added.  
Also he said the case against MP Premalal Jayasekera was not similar to that of Mr. Ramanayake’s, as his verdict had not been given by the highest court in the country.  “ I wish to state in the House that Mr. Jayasekera was never allowed to come to Parliament on the opening day and he was not allowed to come during that week. When  his relatives met me, I advised them to file an appeal,” he added.