Ranil restrained further

Sandasen Marasinghe

Colombo District Court yesterday extended enjoining orders that restrained UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe from suspending the party memberships of Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, Construction and Engineering Services Minister Rajitha Senaratne and Deputy Fisheries Minister Neomal Perera from the UNP until March 9, 2010.

Colombo District Judge Laffar Thahir extended the orders issued early this year in respect of three separate plaints filed by the three Ministers.

The Ministers filed their plaints citing the UNP, its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, its General Secretary Tissa Attanayake and 89 others of the UNP as the defendants.

Minister Bogollagama filed the plaint before the Court alleging that the defendants had no right to take a decision to suspend his party membership from the UNP as informed to him in a letter dated March 26, 2009 by Tissa Attanayake.

The parties of the plaint by Minister Bogollagama agreed to hear the case with written submissions and the Court ordered to submit the written submissions on March 9, 2010.

Minister Neomal Perera filing the plaint stated that the UNP had no right to suspend his party membership as informed to him by a letter dated May 28, 2009 by Tissa Attanayake. Attorney Ali Sabri appeared for Ministers Bogollagama and Neomal Perera instructed by Athula de Silva.

Minister Senaratne filing his plaint before the Court on an earlier date alleged that the defendants' decision to suspend his party membership from the UNP was illegal as he was informed through a letter dated May 28, 2009. The Court also ordered the defendants yesterday to file objections on March 9. President's Counsel Ikram Mohamed appeared for Minister Senaratne.