Contempt of court petition filed against Diana; Colombo Chief Magistrate grants her bail in a separate case

SJB member Rehan Jayawickrema yesterday (21) filed a contempt of court application before the Supreme Court against unseated State Minister Diana Gamage, alleging she had committed the offence of contempt of court through her statements at a media conference held on May 9.

Former Chairman of the Weligama Urban Council, Rehan Jayawickrema, in his petition alleged that the former MP had brought the authority of the Supreme Court into disrepute.

The Supreme Court on May 8 disqualified her from being a Member of Parliament as she is not a citizen of Sri Lanka.

The petitioner has stated that at the particular media conference respondent Gamage portrayed herself as a victim of an injustice and that the outcome in the Supreme Court was an attack on women and further that it was a result of a political conspiracy based on hate and vengeance.

The petitioner has stated that Gamage made statements maliciously to diminish the impression and impact of the said judgment in the minds of the people and to portray herself as the victim of a wrongdoing and that the judgment of the Supreme Court as wrongful.

Meanwhile, the ex-State Minister Gamage was granted bail yesterday after she appeared before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court in connection with a magisterial inquiry over a complaint that she had obtained a Sri Lankan passport after furnishing false information.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage ordered the release of Gamage on cash bail of Rs. 500,000, with two sureties of Rs. 1 million. The Magistrate observed that there was no material to prove that the suspect would evade the magisterial inquiry.

The CID conducting investigations into this matter named Gamage as a suspect.

In 2021, the CID filed a B report before the Chief Magistrate’s Court against Gamage over a complaint that she is a British citizen residing in Sri Lanka without a dual citizenship status.

The CID commenced investigations into this incident subsequent to a complaint lodged by civil society activist Oshala Herath.