The past couple of weeks have been significant judicially and politically when considering the number of related events that took place during that period. The most recent, was that of former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa’s resignation from his parliamentary membership on June 9, 2022. His entry into parliament was facilitated by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution which permitted dual citizens to enter Parliament. The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) projected Basil Rajapaksa as an economic wizard, one of the best who was able to rescue Sri Lanka from the current economic crisis but, despite all the hype, the economic crisis got even worse under his watch.
His resignation came exactly a month after that of his brother, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 9, in the wake of the attack on peaceful protesters by his supporters. The resignations, coming in quick succession, were attributed to weeks of countrywide protests by tens of thousands of people disgruntled, disappointed and disgusted with the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government’s economic mismanagement and inefficiency resulting in unbearable burdens being heaped on those struggling to make ends meet. These street protests, found a focal point at Galle Face Green now known as ‘GotaGoGama’ where the apolitical protestors from all walks of life and from all parts of the country have gathered since April 9 calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government.
The next in our list is that of the three-judge Supreme Court Bench comprising justices Achala Wengappuli, Preethi Padman Surasena and Yasantha Kodagoda, setting aside the presidential pardon granted on June 24, 2021 to former parliamentarian and National Housing Development Authority Chairman Duminda Silva till the final determination of the case, which is to be taken up on September 9. His passport was impounded and the CID directed to arrest him.
The interim order was issued when the fundamental rights petition filed by former parliamentarian Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra’s widow, Sumana Premachandra, and their daughter Hirunika was taken up for consideration on May 31.
Duminda Silva was sentenced to death on September 8, 2016 after a five-judge Supreme Court Bench comprising then Chief Justice Priyasad Dep and Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda and Nalin Perera, found Mr. Silva guilty of murdering Mr. Premachandra and three others in October 2011.
Responding to the interim injunction, Hirunika said,”I am very pleased that the court has demonstrated its independence”. She told AFP it was a “historic” judgement and that “no one has challenged a presidential pardon before”. The presidential pardon was widely condemned by several countries including the United States and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Sri Lanka’s Bar Association. They said the arbitrary use of presidential powers undermines accountability, weakens and erodes the rule of law and results in the loss of public confidence in the administration of justice.
The other politically and legally significant event was the 2-year rigorous imprisonment, suspended for five years, imposed on Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga by Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Tillekaratne. The Attorney General had indicted Minister Ranatunga, a government front-liner and former chief minister on charges of extorting Rs.64 million from a businessman in 2015. He was fined Rs.25 million and ordered to pay Rs.1 million as compensation to the businessman. Further jail terms of nine months and three months respectively were imposed in case of default. However, Mr. Ranatunga has filed a petition in the Appeal Court seeking to set aside the Colombo High Court ruling.
We conclude this column with an incident which could result in a major hiccup in Indo-Lanka relations based on the statement made by former Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman M.M.C. Ferdinando during an inquiry by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) into the awarding of the Mannar Wind and Power Project to Adani Green Energy Ltd., owned by Indian billionaire industrialist and Narendra Modi confidant Gautam Shantilal Adani.
According to Mr. Ferdinando it was done on a request made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is reported to have said he was being pressured by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do so. However, in a tweeter message, President Gotabaya denied having influenced any government official or politician on this matter.
Whatever the case may be or may not be, we once again remind the country’s political leadership that they have no right to sell, mortgage or lease parts of Sri Lanka to any foreign country to fulfill their personal agendas and that our Motherland should be held in trust for all Sri Lankans, their children and their children’s children.
