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| Tuesday, 15 June 2004 |
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Court issues notice in LTTE transmitter case The Court of Appeal yesterday issued notice, returnable on July 12 in a case challenging the legality of the temporary licence issued in favour of the "Secretary General of the LTTE Peace Secretariat" to operate a private radio station. The case had been instituted in 2003 by People's Alliance Member of Parliament Janaka Bandara Tennekoon naming as respondents the Minister of Mass Communications, the Secretary to the Ministry, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, the Attorney-General and "S. Puleedevan, Secretary General, LTTE Peace Secretariat". Subsequent to the change of government earlier this year, the successors to the original Minister and Secretary were added as parties. In his petition, the petitioner has claimed that the public notice and process of inquiry required by Section 41 of the SLBC. Act has not been followed prior to the granting of this licence. He has also claimed that a four-member committee of Sri Lankan government officials sent to inspect the radio equipment upon its arrival had reported that the equipment was tuned to a frequency other than the frequency permitted by the said licence. The petitioner has also stated that there is no evidence that the licence fee and frequency assignment fee aggregating to Rs. 112,500 fixed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has been levied or even demanded from the "LTTE Peace Secretariat". In addition the petitioner has stated that the "Secretary General of the LTTE Peace Secretariat" is not a legal person and hence there can be no valid licence and no enforcement of the conditions of the licence, in as much as there is no legal person against whom the said conditions can be enforced. The petitioner has prayed for a writ of certiorari to quash the purported temporary licence and a writ of prohibition restraining the issue of a permanent licence to the said party. S. S. Sahabandu, PC with Ms. I. R. Rajepakse appeared for the petitioner.
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