Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal against the Trial-at-Bar decision rejecting his petition of appeal in the D. A. Rajapaksa Museum case.
Rajapaksa is seeking an order in the nature of a writ of certiorari to quash the order dated February 20, 2019 of the Trial-at-Bar bench rejecting the petition of appeal filed by Rajapaksa regarding the D. A. Rajapaksa Museum case.
Rajapaksa also sought an interim order preventing the Trial-at-Bar bench comprising High Court Judges Sampath Abeykoon (President), Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne and the Permanent High Court-at-Bar in case bearing number HC/PTB/1/02/2018 from taking any further steps in respect of any matter until the hearing and final of this application.
This petition will be taken up for support on March 12 before Court of Appeal Justices Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeysekere.
The Petitioner cited High Court Judges Sampath Abeykoon (President), Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne, the judges appointed to sit in the newly established Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar and the Attorney General as respondents.
On February 11, the Permanent High Court-at-Bar decided to overrule preliminary objections raised by former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and six others in connection with the D. A. Rajapaksa Museum case citing that the Permanent High Court-at-Bar had jurisdiction to hear this case.
The petitioner states that, by order dated February 20 2019, the first and third Respondents rejected the Petition of Appeal.
Rajapaksa states that he filed an application for revision against the said order dated February 11, 2019. He states that the first and third respondents acted ultra-vires in delivering order dated February 20, 2019. He further stated that first to third respondents breached the rules of natural justice when they delivered the said order dated February 20, 2019. He further said the order dated February 20, 2019 was arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal and capricious
This petition had been filed through counsel Sanath Wijewardane.
The Attorney General filed Indictments against seven accused, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, members of the director board of Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (LRDC) Chairman Prasad Harshan de Silva, Bhadra Udulawathi Kamaladasa, Sudammika Kheminda Artigala, Saman Kumara Abraham Galappatti, Devage Mahinda Saliya and Srimathi Mallika Kumari Senadheera under seven counts for allegedly misappropriating LRDC funds of Rs.33.9 million.
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