The Supreme Court dismissed the applications in the Water's Edge case this week which were filed to challenge last year's judgment. The bench comprising of Chief Justice Asoka De Silva and Justices Shiranee Thilakawardena and K. Sripavan cited previous judgments and consequent orders in the fundamental rights cases. The petitioners stated that the concerns of the aggrieved parties who had ownership of the land, were not heard during the Water's Edge case last year.
The Water's Edge judgment was delivered in October 2008 after two retired public servants, Rajah Senanayake and Sugathapala Mendis, filed a fundamental rights petition stating that the former President Chandrika Kumaratunga was involved in illegally transferring state lands meant for public use to a private company to build a golf course.
The petition stated that the former President misled the Cabinet into believing that a foreign investment was coming in for the project. However, the golf course was not constructed by those who obtained permission to do so by the Cabinet. According to the judgment, the land was handed back to the state. The Court also ordered Mrs. Kumaratunga to pay Rs.3 million. |
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