Raising preliminary objections on several grounds, the Attorney General (AG) yesterday requested the Court of Appeal (CA) to dismiss the Writ application filed by former Health Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella seeking an Interim Order preventing him being detained in remand custody over the controversial substandard human immunoglobulin drug purchasing case being heard in the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court.
When the petition was considered before Justice D.N.Samarakoon, the Deputy Solicitor General Nirmalan Wigneshwaran appearing for the AG pointed out that the petition should be dismissed on the grounds that the petitioner has already filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court relating to the same matter and he has not disclosed it to this court, he has abused the process of courts by filing a revision application and a writ application on the same matter against the Magistrate’s Order to detain him in remand custody until the trail is finished and also that the petitioner as a remand inmate has committed an offence under the Prisons Ordinance by signing his affidavit for this petition at the Parliament premises violating his parliamentary privileges as a Member of Parliament. A remanded MP is allowed in Parliament only to perform his duties as a lawmaker and is not allowed to seek legal advice for him there, the DSG pointed out.
DSG Wigneshwaran with DSG Lakmini Girihagama appeared for respondents namely the IGP Deshabandu Thennakoon, CID’s Special Investigations Unit- I OIC and the Attorney General.
Meanwhile, the President and Secretary of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) also through an intervening petition filed yesterday requested the court to dismiss this writ application stating that the petitioner has abused the stipulated court procedure of the country. When the petitioning party raised no objection to the intervening petition, the court, taking into consideration the public interest factor of this case, allowed to name the intervening parties as the ninth and tenth respondents to the writ application.
The court will declare the order on this petition on April 30.President’s Counsel Faisz Musthapha appeared for the petitioner while President’s Counsel Chandaka Jayasundere appeared for the intervening petitioners.
Lahiru Fernando