Removal of Buddha statue:

Chief prelate files FR Case
 

BY WASANTHA Ramanayake

THE Chief prelate of China Bay temple filed a Fundamental Rights Application in the Supreme Court against the removal of the Buddha statue located near the three wheeler park in the Trincomalee town.

Petitioner Ven. Dehiovita Piyatissa Thera, the chief prelate of the Bodhijaramaya, Dimuthugama, China Bay, Trincomalee, cited Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabeyson, and the Attorney General's Department, UDA and its chairman as the respondents.

The petitioner stated that the Attorney General and his department had instituted a case in the Trincomalee District Court in order to have the statue removed on the basis that it was an illegal structure.

The petitioner alleged that although there were about 35 illegal Kovils erected in the state lands the first and second respondents had failed to proceed against them.

The prelate stated that the respondents decision to remove the statue as an illegal structure without removing the illegal Kovils were unlawful, arbitrary and in violation of the petitioner's rights.

He stated that the removal of the statue would cause the breach of peace and would be irreparable loss and damage to the Buddhists in the area.

The petitioner is seeking interim relief to stay Order preventing the removal of the statue by the UDA and stay the proceedings in the Trincomalee District Court.