SC refuses to grant leave to proceed with petitions against Yugadanavi deal

The Supreme Court has refused to grant leave to proceed with all 5 fundamental rights petitions filed against the Yugadanavi power plant share transfer agreement.

The verdict was delivered by Supreme Court’s five-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda and L.T.B. Dehideniya this morning.

The chief justice said the judge bench decided not to issue notices to the respondents for petition hearing. Accordingly, the relevant petitions were nullified without taking them up for consideration.

During last week’s proceedings, the Supreme Court was told that the three ministers who filed petitions against the Yugadanavi power plant share transfer deal have acted in breach of the collective responsibility of the Cabinet.

Five parties including Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara and former Ministers Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa – who were removed from their portfolios yesterday – had filed petitions challenging the government’s decision to transfer 40% of the Kerawalapitiya Yugadanavi power plant shares to the United States-based company New Fortress Energy.

Thereby, Attorney General Sanjaya Rajaratnam requested the court to nullify them without even taking them up for consideration.

The Attorney General had stated that there is no selling of local resources to foreign entities via this agreement. The transfer of 40% of shares that were with the Treasury has happened. According to him, the Cabinet approval had been obtained for that transfer and the due process was followed.

He had also pointed out that four of the petitions were filed a month after the inking of the agreement, and as per Article 126 of the Constitution, the court does not have the power to consider these petitions.

Every Cabinet minister is bound to protect its collective responsibility and to answer to the Parliament, he had noted, stating that Gammanpila, Weerawansa and Nanayakkara had breached this collective responsibility by coming before the court against a decision taken by the Cabinet.

Making submissions on the petition filed by the General Secretary of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the Attorney General had said, “During the period of 2015 to 2019, proposals were submitted to the then-Cabinet to implement an LNG project with countries like Qatar, South Korea, Japan and India. The petitioner Ranjith Madduma Bandara was a member of that Cabinet. During that time, he did not object to the project. But he has filed a petition pertaining to the relevant project now. It is problematic as to why the project that was good then, is not good now.”