PM’s reaction to GR’s FR petition: SC ruling can’t be subject to foreign judges’ opinion - Prof. Peiris
‘Invoking int’l org not a prerogative of Mahinda’s Camp’
By Shamindra Ferdinando-May 15, 2015
Former External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, MP, yesterday strongly disputed Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s move to consult the Commonwealth as regards a recent Supreme Court ruling in respect of the fundamental rights petition filed by former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
"This is truly an astonishing statement against the backdrop of what President Maithripala Sirisena said at Akurana also on the same day," Prof. Peiris told The Island yesterday.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (13) directed that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa could not be arrested until the full and final determination of the case.
After having declared open newly built Akurana Pradeshiya Sabha building, President Maithripala Sirisena stressed that the Supreme Court rulings in respect of fundamental rights petitions filed by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake proved absence of political interference in judicial matters. He said the judiciary hadn’t been free during his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure.
Premier Wickremesinghe, however, reacted differently to the Supreme Court ruling the following day.
Addressing the National Consultative Summit on Media Reforms at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), Premier Wickeremesinghe expressed serious concern over the Supreme Court fixing the next hearing of the former Defence Secretary’s petition for Oct. 6, thus denying his government the opportunity to respond to the allegations ahead of forthcoming parliamentary election. The Premier expressed shock and surprise that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa didn’t want to know the outcome of his FR petition sooner.
Premier Wickremesinghe asserted that Sri Lanka could consult Commonwealth Judges Association as well as Commonwealth Magistrates’ Association regarding the Supreme Court directive in this regard. He pointed out that President Maithripala being the current chair of the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister stressed that if given the opportunity, he could easily defend the government position.
Rajapaksa has moved the Supreme Court against investigations undertaken by the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID). Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will report to FCID on May 20.
Prof. Peiris insisted that there could not be a role for foreign judges on a matter handled by Sri Lankan courts under any circumstances. Premier Wickremesinghe could not be unaware that Sri Lanka had abolished an earlier dispensation under which appeals were made to the Privy Council in London. "Now, we have a Prime Minister wanting to demean Sri Lanka by seeking to subject views of the highest court to opinion of foreign judges."
Prof. Peiris alleged that Prime Minister of a minority government had absolutely no respect for domestic mechanisms. "The people will soon have an opportunity to decide whether they want the current sordid state of affairs to continue."
The former law professor pointed out that as President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe had made wholly contradictory statements on the Supreme Court matter, the new administration should explain its stand on Prime Minister’s suggestion.
Alleging that Prof. Peiris was speaking on behalf of those who had been campaigning for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s return to parliament, a senior government spokesman said that the grouping recently had called for the intervention by Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the World Bank in domestic matters. The spokesman alleged Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Camp was selective in opposing foreign intervention.
Those who had been opposed to Sri Lanka consulting Commonwealth had complained to World Bank in the wake of the Supreme Court dismissing fundamental rights petition filed against Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, the spokesman said. The same group declared its intention to take up on-going police investigations into the conduct of members of parliament with Geneva-based IPU, he said. A section of the Opposition seemed to be thinking that invoking international community was a prerogative of theirs, he said. The previous government had secured the Commonwealth chair promising to uphold Commonwealth values, such as Latimer House Principles, was now taking a different approach, the spokesman said.
