Court to hear petition by NOC Secretary General against suspension

The Court of Appeal today (30) scheduled the hearing of the petition filed by Maxwell de Silva, who served as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC), requesting an order to invalidate the decision made to suspend him from the position.

However, Court rejected the request to issue an interim injunction to prevent the execution of the decision made by the Minister of Sports to suspend Maxwell de Silva from functioning as the Secretary of the National Olympic Committee.

The order was issued by Justice Damith Thotawatte with the concurrence of Justice Dhammika Ganepola, after considering the petition filed by Maxwell de Silva challenging the legality of the decision made by the Minister of Sports to suspend him from his position.

Accordingly, the court directed the respondents to file any objections related to the petition by 12 June, and the petitioner to respond to those objections by 14 July.

The Appeals Court further scheduled the hearing of the petition for 4 September.

The petitioner states that the decision to suspend him was made by the Minister of Sports based on the advice of the International Olympic Committee, alleging that he misused his authority — a decision which he claims is unlawful.

Through his petition, he claims that the Minister of Sports does not have the power to make such a decision, and therefore, the decision has no legal basis. Accordingly, he requests the Appeals Court to issue a writ order invalidating the said decision.