The Appeal Court today (23) issued an interim order preventing the holding of the inaugural session of the Wanathawilluwa Pradeshiya Sabha, which was scheduled to be held tomorrow (24), said Ada Derana reporter.
The order was issued by Court of Appeal Judge Priyantha Fernando, following consideration of a petition filed by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) group leader Samantha Munasinghe, who contested the recent local government elections for the said Pradeshiya Sabha.
The judge also ordered notices to be issued to the respondents and scheduled the petition to be taken up for further hearing on 16 July, said Ada Derana reporter.
Attorney-at-Law Saman Galappaththi, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, submitted to the court that his client’s party had been unfairly treated in the allocation of seats reserved for women’s representation, which should have been based on the number of votes each party received.
The attorney further argued that the decision made by the Returning Officer in allocating these seats was in violation of legal provisions. Although a formal complaint had been submitted to the Election Commission, no response had been received to date, the counsel added.
Accordingly, the petitioner requested the court to allow the hearing of the petition and to issue the interim injunction sought, in order to prevent the inaugural session from being held on the basis of what he claimed was an unlawful decision by the Returning Officer.
However, the State Attorney representing the respondents argued that issuing an interim injunction to stop the inaugural session would cause serious disruption to the delivery of public services through the Pradeshiya Sabha.
Therefore, the State Attorney requested that the court refrain from granting the interim order sought by the petitioner.
After considering the facts presented, the court issued an interim injunction to the Returning Officer of the Wanathawilluwa Pradeshiya Sabha and the Local Government Commissioner of the North Western Province, who were named as respondents in the petition.
