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SC discharges UGC Chairman from Contempt of Court proceedings
View(s):Terminating the contempt of court proceedings, the Supreme Court, discharged former University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor Gamini Samaranayake last Monday. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Mohan Pieris P.C. and Justices P.A. Rathnayake and Priyasath Dep delivering the order, noted the Court was of the view that the matter has been resolved.
Faisz Musthapha P.C. appearing for Prof. Samaranayake, told Court that the issue has been resolved, while his client had been instrumental in admitting some 5,609 extra students to the universities. Acting on a motion filed by some Advanced Level students and a teachers’ union, a Bench comprising then Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and Justices Nimal Gamini Amaratunga and K. Sripavan, had been inquiring into the contempt proceedings since July last year.
Sixteen students and the Ceylon Teachers’ Union filed the motion in July last year, stating that the respondent Chairman failed to comply with the Supreme Court order directing the UGC to release without any delay, the new Z-scores of the students who sat the 2011 Advanced Level Exam. They had also stated that the respondent Chairman had made a statement at a media briefing, undermining the authority of the Supreme Court.
In their rights application to Court the petitioners, first complained the application of erroneous and unjustifiable common formula to calculate the Z-score of candidates who sat the 2011 A/L Examination under the old and new syllabuses, causing a gross distortion of the examination results. Following the hearing, Court directed the UGC to calculate the Z-scores separately for both categories of students, and release same without any undue delay.
Faisz Musthapha P.C. with Faiza Markar instructed by Gowry Shangary Thawarasa, appeared for Prof. Samaranayake.
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