Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera de-planed at BIA
On arrival at the passport control at the Bandaranayake International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake, the monk was initially cleared for travel overseas but was later taken off the flight minutes before it was scheduled to take off, the officials added.
They said that the revocation of the monk’s travel ban was effective from 25 August and Immigration and Emigration officials had apparently bungled the matter after they had given the green light for the monk to travel overseas.
“The Immigration and Emigration officials handling this passenger should have made it clear that he is banned from leaving the country following a Court order and the matter should have ended there.
But this was not the case as the monk was allowed to pass the passport control, enter the boarding area and later board the London bound flight before being taken out at the last minute. All these issues and embarrassment could have been spared if the Immigration and Emigration officials had stayed within the frame of the Court order,” they said.
Immigration and Emigration Controller General Nihal Ranasinghe said that they had initially cleared the monk for travel as they awaited a confirmation from the Court.
“We dispatched a fax to the relevant Court seeking details on the monk’s travel ban but since there was a delay it was decided to ask the monk to disembark, otherwise the remaining passengers on the scheduled flight would be inconvenienced,” Ranasinghe added.
The monk later returned to the temple while his attorneys visited the Court to clarify the legal matters regarding the incident.
