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SC dismisses revision application of FR petition against CDL
View(s):The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a revision application filed by a senior custom’s officer against the dismissal of a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed against Colombo Dockyard Ltd (CDL) for a default in payment of approximately Rs 619 million due to the State.The petition filed by T.B. Ratnasiri against the CDL, and citing former Attorney General (AG) Mohan Pieris and Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundara as Respondents, challenging their integrity and honesty.
The Bench comprising Justices Shirani Thilakawardena, P.A. Ratnayake and Eva Wanasundara dismissed the application on the grounds that the inherent powers of a court are adjuncts to existing jurisdiction to remedy injustice, and that, they cannot be made the source of new jurisdiction to revise a judgment rendered by a court.
She said that the Counsel for the Petitioner conceded that the matter came up for consideration of a limited matter based entirely on a pure question of law, which, admittedly, is a threshold issue to be determined before the actual application is considered.
Justice Thilakawardena also stated that the question of law is whether a revision application could be referred to the SC against an FR application that had been previously determined by the SC. Considering two other previous revision applications which held the decision of the former case decided that the SC had no statutory power to rehear, revise, review or further consider its decision in an FR application.
The FR petition filed citing the former AG in his personal capacity, P.B. Jaysundara and four others, alleged that CDL had defaulted payment to the sum of Rs. 619 million. The petition was dismissed in February by a Bench comprising Justices Sathiya Hettige, E. Wanasundara and P.A. Ratnayake, who declined to hear the case
However, earlier, Mr. Kanag Ishwaran, P.C. appearing for CDL, confirmed his client’s settlement of all statutory levies and payments due to the relevant authorities, and that, there is no evasion of any payments due to the government or defrauding the government of any dues.
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