Sajith denies political deal with BASL President

Colombo, July 27 (Daily Mirror) - Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday denied the allegation made by National People's Power (NPP) MP Asitha Niroshana that Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President Rajiv Amarasuriya had got into a political deal with him.

"The government cannot defend its plan to change the retirement age of judges. A JVP MP stood in Parliament and accused me of bribing the Bar Association to oppose it.What a shameless accusation. I challenge MP Asitha Niroshana to come outside Parliament and repeat this," Mr. Premadasa said in his latest X message.

Meanwhile, MP Niroshana and other NPP members came under fire by Free Lawyers Association Convenor Maithri Gunaratne who posed a challenge to them. "We challenge NPP members to come out in the open and make this allegation against Amarasuriya. Millions can be claimed as damages from NPP MPs if they make the allegation outside Parliament," he said.

Gunaratne told media that the BASL President opposed the move to extend the retirement age of Judges from the very inception.