SLMC FR plea refused
Wasantha RAMANAYAKE.
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to grant Leave to Proceed with a
Fundamental Rights application against the refusal of the nomination
paper of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in connection with the
Jaffna Municipal Council election.
The Court noted that there was no basis to grant leave to proceed.
The Bench comprised Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, Justice K. Sripavan
and Justice Chandra Ekanayake.
Petitioners SLMC Acting General Secretary Nizam Kariyappar, Mohamed
Ismail and SLMC cited 17 respondents including the Elections
Commissioner, the Returning Officer of Jaffna and the General
Secretaries of the parties contesting the election and several others as
respondents.
President’s Counsel Jayampathi Wickremaratne for the petitioners
submitted that the second respondent returning officer informed that the
SLMC nomination paper for the Jaffna Municipality rejected on the basis
of the failure to produce an affidavit or a birth certificate of one of
the youth candidates.
The counsel stated that to the best of the petitioners’ recollection
they had produced an affidavit of the youth candidate.
He stated that the rejection of the nomination paper would adversely
affect the franchise of the second petitioner and voters of Jaffna.
The petitioners sought an order to accept the SLMC nomination paper,
a declaration that their rights had been violated and an interim relief
preventing the respondents from taking steps to hold the election until
the final determination their rights plea. |