Petition against 2024 General Election date dismissed
November 4, 2024 11:48 am
The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition filed challenging the decision to hold the General Election on November 14.
The three-member Supreme Court judge bench consisting of Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Shiran Gunaratne and Priyantha Fernando ordered the relevant petition to be dismissed without taking up for hearing following an extended consideration of facts presented.
This order was issued after considering the facts presented by the Additional Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne who appeared on behalf of the Attorney General that the date for the election has been properly set by the President in accordance with the Elections Act and that the activities related to the poll have almost been completed by now.
On October 21, the civil society activist and convenor of the “Api Sri Lanka” national organization” H.M Priyantha Herath filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the decision to hold the General Election on November 14, seeking an order declaring that the decision violates the Constitution.
The Attorney General, the Secretary to the President, the Chairman of the Election Commission and its members were named as respondents in the petition.
The petitioner has claimed that as per Section 10 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, the period for accepting nominations was declared from October 4 to October 11.
The petition had further pointed out that according to the Parliamentary Elections Act, the date for polling should be scheduled not less than five weeks and not more than seven weeks from the date of closing of nominations.
Accordingly, the petition stated that once the nomination period concluded on October 11, the five-week period would conclude on November 15, and the seven-week period would be completed on November 29.
The petitioner had requested the Supreme Court to issue an order stating that the people’s sovereignty and the Constitution are violated by this decision. Furthermore, the petitioner has requested the Supreme Court to issue appropriate orders to rectify this relevant decision.
