Verdict in case seeking disqualification of Diana’s House seat postponed again

The Court of Appeal yesterday (18) postponed the verdict on the petition filed seeking the disqualification of State Minister Diana Gamage’s parliamentary seat. She entered Parliament on the SJB National List.

The verdict which was to be announced by a three-member Appellate Court bench, comprising Court of Appeal President Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, and Justices Khema Swarnadhipathi and A. Marikkar will now be delivered on 31 October, 2023.

The three-judge bench said that though the verdict was to be delivered at 1.30 pm on Wednesday, the case had been mistakenly included in the ‘mention list’ instead of ‘order list’ and therefore the announcement had to be postponed. It was the fourth occasion when the announcement of the verdict was put off.

Social activist Oshala Herath filed the petition seeking a writ order disqualifying the State Minister from holding a parliamentary seat since she also holds a British Citizenship.

The petitioner has pointed out that according to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, a person who holds dual citizenship is not eligible to be elected, sit and vote in Parliament. (SF)