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Seneviratne gets top PCCSL post
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Sam Wijesinha
Former Secretary General of Parliament, Nihal Seneviratne has been appointed Chairman of the Dispute Resolution Council (DRC) of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL), following the resignation of Sam Wijesinha. The appointment was made by the PCCSL Board of Directors this week, a press release from the PCCSL said.
Nihal Seneviratne
Mr. Wijesinha, who served as DRC Chairman since the inception of the PCCSL in 2003, was appointed Chairman Emeritus by the Board of Directors. Mr. Seneviratne is a retired civil servant and was Secretary General of Parliament from 1981-1994, having succeeded Mr Wijesinha in the same post. Having received his early education at Royal College, Colombo, Mr Seneviratne graduated with an LLB from Peradeniya University. Upon graduation, Mr Seneviratne joined the Office of the House of Representatives (Parliament) and went on to become its Secretary General. He also served as Parliamentary Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake.
The DRC of the PCCSL is an autonomous body tasked with adjudicating on public complaints against Sri Lanka’s print media. It works on the basis of conciliation, mediation and arbitration, and is constituted under Arbitration Act No. 15 of 1995. The PCCSL is a self-regulatory mechanism of Sri Lanka’s Newspaper industry and has dealt with over 1,400 complaints since its inception. The DRC sits on matters that are referred to it by the PCCSL Secretariat and require an impartial inquiry.
It comprises 11 members, five from civil society, five from the media and a Chairman who has no direct/indirect links with the newspaper industry and is an Attorney-at-Law.The current members of the DRC are, Chairman, Nihal Seneviratne, Dr Devanesan Nesiah, Javid Yusuf, Dion Schoorman, Lucille Wijewardene, Mrs Gnana Moonesinghe, Pramod de Silva, Siri Ranasinghe, Ms Vijitha Fernando, Daya Lankapura and V. Thevarajah. The Board of Directors of the PCCSL are, Chairman- Kumar Nadesan, Deputy Chairman- Sinha Ratnatunga, Nimal Welgama, Manik de Silva, Siri Ranasinghe, Sundera Nihathamani De Mel, N.M. Ameen, Ms. Seetha Ranjanee and T. Muzzammil.
The PCCSL Secretariat comprises CEO and Complaints Officer (English Media), Sukumar Rockwood, Complaints Officer (Sinhala Media), Kamal Liyanaarachchi and Complaints Officer (Tamil Media), Ameen Hussein.