Nagananda before SC over contempt case

Consequence of petition against abuse of NL

By Shamindra Ferdinando-January 24, 2019, 10:51 pm 

Attorney-at-law Nagananda Kodituwakku, yesterday, said in open court that he was the only lawyer in the country fighting corruption, in all three organs of the government namely, legislature, executive and judiciary as well as in the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Attorney General.

Kodituwakku said so when a case against him filed by Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya over contempt of court during Justice K. Sripavan tenure as the Chief Justice was taken up in the Supreme Court. The bench comprised Justice Sisira de Abrew (Chairman), Lakshman T.B. Dehideniya and Preethi Padman Surasena.

The public interest litigation lawyer said that the Attorney General had abused his office by providing wrong opinion to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to put off Provincial Council polls.

The Attorney General has initiated proceedings against Koditiwakku for allegedly derogatory remark that the then CJ Sripavan abused his Office to confer a favor to President Maithripala Sirisena. Kodituwakku has made the statement before Sripavan in the wake of the latter asserting that a case filed in respect of defeated candidates being accommodated in Parliament through the National List ‘is not a matter of national importance.’

The Chief Justice said so in response to Kodituwakku’s appeal for a five judge bench to hear the abuse of National List by the SLFP led UPFA.

Kodituwakku said in court the judiciary should know the abuse of power by the Attorney General in total disregard to the law. He said that the Attorney General should be dis-enrolled. When the presiding judge Abrew queried ‘Dis-enrolled’?, Kodituwakku said that he would soon make an application to the Chief Justice seeking to remove the Attorney General from the office of attorney-at-law.

The court was also told that the case would be taken up again on May 27, 2019 before Chief Justice Nalin Perera, Prasanna Jayawardena and Lakshman T.B. Dehideniya. The Chief Justice constituted a special bench consequent to Kodituwakku’s appeal.

Following the last general election in August 2015, several defeated candidates were accommodated on the National List at the expense of those already named in the lists submitted to the Elections Commissioner/now the National Election Commission (NEC). Kodituwakku moved court against those responsible for the inclusion of the defeated candidates on the National List.

Defeated candidates accommodated through the National List are Mahinda Samarasinghe (Kalutara), Tilanga Sumathipala (Colombo), Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena (Matara), S.B. Dissanayake (Kandy), Lakshman Seneviratne (Badulla) and two JVPers, Bimal Ratnayake (Kurunegala) and Sunil Handunetti (Matara). In addition to them, one defeated candidate has been appointed on the UNP National List as well.

The parliament consists of 196 elected and 29 National List members.