Supreme Court judge declines to hear Wilpattu case

Colombo, April 27 (Daily Mirror) - Supreme Court Judge A.H.M.D. Nawaz today recused himself from hearing an appeal petition filed by former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen in relation to the Wilpattu judgment.

Justice Nawaz, who was a member of today’s bench, declined to hear the appeal, citing personal reasons.

The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Sampath Abayakoon and Gihan Kulatunga, fixed the appeal petition for argument on September 9.

Senior Counsel Ravindranath Dabare appeared for the Centre for Environmental Justice.  

Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen had filed an appeal seeking an order to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in connection with the deforestation of the northern sanctuary of the Wilpattu National Park.

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal on 16th November, 2020 had issued an order directing the Conservator General of the Department of Forest Conservation to take action to implement a tree planting programme in accordance with the provisions of the Forest Ordinance in any area equivalent to the reserve forest area used for re-settlement of IDPs.

The Court of Appeal further ordered former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen to bear the full cost of the tree planting programme in these areas applying the polluter pays principle.

In his special leave to appeal petition, Bathiudeen has raised several legal issues relating to the judgment of the Court of Appeal. 

The respondent-petitioner (Bathiudeen) stated that the Court of Appeal has failed to consider whether the petitioner of the writ petition in the Court of Appeal had locus standi or was competent to maintain the application by way of public interest litigation.