Supreme Court deems 13 articles of Finance Bill unconstitutional

By Saman Indrajith

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena yesterday (17) informed Parliament that the Supreme Court had ruled that 13 articles of the Finance Amendment Bill, recently submitted by the Minister of Finance to Parliament, were unconstitutional.

 The articles 4 (1), 5 (1), 5 (2), 5 (3), 5 (4), 5 (5), 6 (1), 7 (1), 12b, 13 (1), 14, 20 and 17 in the Finance Amendment Bill are unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has decided.

The Supreme Court had stated that Article 17 should be removed entirely and amendments should be made to other Articles, the Speaker added.

 The Supreme Court has informed the Speaker that if the amendments are made the Bill could be passed by a simple majority in Parliament.