Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill: further consideration of petitions postponed
April 19, 2021 04:41 pm
The Supreme Court has postponed until tomorrow (20) further consideration of the petitions filed challenging the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Draft Bill.
Ada Derana reporter said the court postponed further consideration of the petitions until 10.00 a.m. tomorrow.
The consideration of the petitions commenced this morning before a five-member judge bench comprising of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Supreme Court Judges Buwaneka Aluvihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Murdu Fernando, and Janak de Silva.
Speaking in open court before the commencement of the hearing, Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya requested each legal counsel to limit their oral submissions to 20-30 minutes each as there are a number of lawyers representing petitioners challenging the Draft Bill.
Accordingly, President’s Counsel K. Kanagishwaran had then proceeded to first make submissions on behalf of the petitioners.
Nearly 20 petitions had been submitted against the Draft Bill by many parties including Chairman of the United National Party (UNP) Vajira Abeywardena, UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara, former Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Wasantha Samarasinghe, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), General Secretary of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Ranjith Madduma Bandara, and Chairman of the IT Professionals Association G. Kapila Renuka.
The petitioners claim that certain clauses of the relevant draft bill violate the country’s constitution and therefore seek a court order ruling that the clauses in the bill must be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament and a public referendum.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Prof. G. L. Peiris, SLPP General Secretary Attorney-at-Law Sagara Kariyawasam, and the legal association of the SLPP had filed interim petitions to make submissions regarding the petitions.
