Govt. accepts SC ruling; has right to criticise: Kiriella

19 May 2015 10:57 am

House Leader Lakshman Kiriella said the government, while accepting the Supreme Court ruling staying the arrest of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, it had every right to criticise the flaws in the judicial system.

He said it was a misconception that court rulings could not be criticised in the public domain. Mr. Kiriella expressed these views in response to Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva who was critical of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s comments on the court ruling. 

Mr. de Silva claimed that the Prime Minister had openly challenged the court ruling and this amounted to a serious assault on the independence of the Supreme Court.

He said the Prime Minister's remarks were baseless and pointed out that it was all the more serious to submit a ruling by Sri Lanka's highest court to the Commonwealth Judges' Association. 

Mr. de Silva asked whether the government accepted the jurisdiction of two judges hearing a fundamental rights application. Mr. Kiriella said the Prime Minister would provide a detailed reply on the following day. 

He said any person had the right to criticise court rulings and that he regretted the opposition leader, who is also a lawyer by profession disputing or denying this right. (Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera)