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Rajapaksa’s lawyers seek dismissal of Quo-Warranto petition
Lawyers appearing for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Friday, requested the Court of Appeal to dismiss the Quo Warranto writ petition that 122 parliamentarians had filed seeking an order declaring that Mr Rajapaksa is not legally entitled to hold the office of Prime Minister.
Gamini Marapana, PC, who appeared for Mr Rajapaksa, asked that court to dismiss the petition.
The Quo Warranto was filed by 122 MPs belonging to the United National Party (UNP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC). The case was taken up before Court of Appeal President Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justice Arjuna Obeysekara.
K. Kanag-isvaran, PC, appearing for the petitioners, noted that two no-confidence motions against Mr Rajapaksa and his Cabinet had been duly passed in Parliament. He also submitted in court copies of the relevant Hansard regarding the passage of the no-confidence motions.
Mr Kanag-isvaran argued that since two no-confidence motions had already been passed against Mr Rajapaksa, he had no legal authority to function as prime minister. He also pointed out that under the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, the court had no authority to determine the validity of the no-confidence motions.