The Court of Appeal has set a date to consider the writ petition filed by Ranil Wickremesinghe seeking the annulment of the recommendations made against him by the Commission of Inquiry into Political Revenge.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeal today (28) directed that the petition be called on March 30.
The petition was taken up today before a three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal comprising Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, Lafar Thahir and D.M. Samarakoon. The bench accepted the request of the lawyers representing the petitioners and directed them to convene the hearing on March 30.
In the petition, Wickremasinghe states that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Political Revenge has issued several recommendations against him, claiming that he was responsible for several activities related to the Anti-Corruption Secretariat established during the Yahapalana government.
However, Wickremasinghe states that the Anti-Corruption Secretariat was not functioning under him when he was the Prime Minister and that he did not interfere in its affairs.
He pointed out that the Anti-Corruption Secretariat was established with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers and was governed in accordance with the financial regulations accepted by the government.
Wickremasinghe has stated in the petition that the cases filed by various persons against the Secretariat were filed by recognized government agencies such as the Attorney General’s Department and the Bribery Commission and he did not interfere in his affairs in any way.
However, Wickremasinghe further stated in his petition that the Commission of Inquiry into Political Revenge had issued several recommendations against him in an illegal manner without consulting him and that the Commission had not given him a fair hearing before making those recommendations.
