The Supreme Court today instructed immigration authorities not to take measures to deport Frontline Socialists Party (FSP) central committee member Premakumar ‘Kumar’ Gunaratnam, until February 18.
The judge-bench chaired by Chief Justice K. Sripavan issued the instructions to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration when a petition filed by the FSP was taken up for hearing this morning.
The petition was filed seeking a court order against an attempt to arrest and deport Gunaratnam, terming it as ‘illegal’.
On February 10, the Supreme Court had instructed immigration authorities to refrain from deporting Gunaratnam until February 13 and also ordered the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to appear before the court and give a testimony.
Gunaratnam, a former JVP leader and political activist in Sri Lanka who later became an Australian citizen, had arrived in Sri Lanka on January 01, ahead of the Presidential Election.
According to reports, Gunaratnam had arrived in the island on a 30-day tourist visa which expired on January 31 while the Department of Immigration and Emigration had sought his arrest for visa violations.
