Minister says elections will be held on due date
View(s):By S.R. Pathiravithana
Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the Sri Lanka Cricket elections, which were postponed from March 31 to April 16, will be held on schedule.
“In spite of Thilanga Sumathipala being a Member of Parliament representing the government, we were able to get the correct verdict from the courts. No-one can disprove that Thilanga has connections with the gaming industry,” the minister said.
The Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Sumathipala against the Sports Minister and Sri Lanka Cricket, seeking an enjoining order to suspend the April 16 SLC election.
Sumathipala filed a writ application with the Court of Appeal against the rejection of his nomination to contest for the presidency of Sri Lanka Cricket.
The petition was taken up before a bench headed by Court of Appeal President Justice Sri Skanda Raja. The bench declined to issue the order sought by Sumathipala.
 Nishantha de Silva |
 Mahindananda Aluthgamage |
 Thilanga Sumathipala |
 Nishantha Ranatunga |
One-time Sri Lanka Cricket President Sumathipala petitioned the court after the Sports Ministry rejected his nomination for the upcoming election, in keeping with the findings of a committee and advice the minister received from the Attorney General.
However after the Mt. Lavinia court issued an enjoining order against the incumbent Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga on Thursday, the crisis surrounding the cricket elections has become more complex.
Nishantha de Silva, a member of the Chilaw Marians and a close ally of Sumathipala, sought the intervention of the court, claiming that the SLC and the Sports Ministry fraudulently prevented him from contesting to the post of SLC secretary.
When the Sunday Times contacted de Silva about the issue he said, “I handed over my nomination papers to the Sports Ministry to contest the post of the Secretary, but my papers were ignored.
“Generally when the papers are handed over to the Ministry they promptly seal them and after their findings once again it is a sealed document that reaches the SLC executive committee. However it was only an unsealed wad of papers that were handed over to the SLC Exco. Then when the final verdict was read it said that the three original contestants to the post of president were rejected and in the balance list only the name of Nishantha Ranatunga appeared as the sole contestant to the post of secretary. That is why I sought the intervention of the law of the land. As a result, the courts have ordered that Nishantha Ranatunga cannot engage in any activities pertaining to the duties of the Secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket for two weeks – that is till April 18.”
In reply to Nishantha Silva’s allegation, the minister said that they were hoping to seek the advice of the Attorney General on this issue. He added, “The election date was March 31. We postponed the elections till April 16 to make way for developments that occurred before that date – March 31. A writ cannot be brought on this matter after March 31. We have referred this matter to the Attorney General. This matter also should be solved early next week.
The Minister also added that though Nishantha Silva claims that Nishantha Ranatunga has already served for four year as secretary, it was not so because there was a break in between. He further stressed that the four year term for officials will come to effect from this year and it could not be counted with retrospective effect.
Meanwhile when contacted Nishantha Ranatunga said he had not received any order in this regard and it was only hearsay and he could not officially make a comment on the matter.
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