Galle District Judge Chandima Edirimanna allowed the Galle Cricket Club’s Board of Directors a week to discuss their matter and reach a settlement as both parties pleaded Court to allow them time.
This is in the the case regarding the order to temporarily suspend all activities of the Galle Cricket Club and transfer those powers to the Patron was trialled.
The District Judge had issued an Interim Order on July 6 suspending the activities of present Cricket Club’s Board of Directors after considering a petition claiming that the current Board of Directors had become incapacitated under the provisions of the constitution of the club as they had postponed the General Membership Meeting without informing or consulting the membership and or without giving any valid reason for the postponement. The petition had been submitted by the plaintiffs Harendra Silva, Kenneth Conrad Jayasuriya, Nadugala Lakshman Mohottige, A.S. Jamil, Lasantha Thalavinnna, K.S. Abeynayake and Piyumika N. Ranasinghe who are members of the cricket club.
Kumar Samarasinghe, Ruwan de Silva, Chandana Galappatti, Thusita Wijethilaka, Thushara de Silva, Dinesh Chaminda, Titus Gunaratne, K.A.D.C. De Silva, Chandana P. Gamage, Rohan Gunasekara, K.D. Imbuldeniya, Samantha Liyanage, DG Manawadu, Hasitha Rajapaksa, Malaka de Silva, D.B Kalupahana and M.K Dixon and M.T.S.N Daulagala had been cited as respondents.
The plaintiffs had submitted in their petition that Galle Cricket Club was a member body of the Sri Lanka Cricket Institute which was established in 1876 and they were members of the club. They also had pointed out that the respondents had been elected uncontested to the Executive Council of the Galle Cricket Club at the general meeting held on August 30, 2020. The petitioners also claimed that the term of office of the Executive Council had ended on June 30, 2022.
The petitioners had also alleged that under the membership promotion programme, the admission fee of the club had been reduced to Rs. 5,000 from Rs.13,000 at the meeting of the Executive Council held on May 5, and accordingly 403 new members had been newly recruited. It had also been cited that nine club members, including K.P.S.Warnaweera, had made a complaint to the Sports Ministry in February 2022 regarding their irregularities of the present board of officials including the chairman of which the investigations were still not over.
Considering all the above facts and some other charges, the District Judge issued the interim order to be effective for two weeks.
Accordingly, when the case was called on Thursday, the defendants said that due to the interim order, it will not be possible to continue the activities of the sports club. Therefore, the respondents requested to dissolve this order and to give a week’s time to discuss to reach an agreement.
Considering the facts submitted, the District Judge adjourned further hearing for July 27.
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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