Supreme Court reserves judgment in FR petition against former Minister Fowzie

Colombo, June 23 (Daily Mirror) - The Supreme Court today reserved judgment in a Fundamental Rights petition filed by former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Chandra Jayaratne, alleging that the misuse of a government vehicle by former State Minister A.H.M. Fowzie violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, Justice Janak De Silva and Justice Arjuna Obeyesekere concluded hearing submissions made on behalf of the petitioner and the respondents. The Court announced that its judgment would be delivered on a future date.

Jayaratne’s petition seeks a declaration that public property had been unlawfully misused, resulting in a loss to the State and an infringement of the fundamental rights of citizens.

The petitioner alleged that Fowzie had improperly used a vehicle belonging to the Disaster Management Centre between 2010 and 2015, thereby causing an unlawful loss to the Government.

During the proceedings, it was brought to the attention of the Court that the former State Minister had previously pleaded guilty to charges filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) in connection with the same incident.