Former Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera’s bid to once again enter public office will be heard in the Supreme Court tomorrow on his petition filed on July 7, 2009. The case was delayed twice, the most recent over an amended affidavit dated July 21, 2009, submitted by Dr. Jayasundera’s attorney Faiz Mustapha to the Court registrar which purportedly went missing.
Dr.P.B. Jayasundera |
However, on August 3, 2009 which was the latest day the case was heard in Court, the Attorney General confirmed to the Court that he had received a copy of the July 21, affidavit. Other respondents in the Lanka Marine Services (LMS) fundamental rights case, all of whom had to be noticed, also confirmed receipt of the same affidavit in Court. Only the lawyer for the petitioner in the LMS case, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, said he had not received the document.
Investigations reveal that another affidavit dated July 31, 2009 was subsequently filed in Court, identical to the July 21, affidavit with one difference. A person familiar with the case pointed out that the 21 July affidavit did not have an attestation of the Justice of the Peace whereas the 31 July 2009 affidavit did.
Dr. Jayasundera is asking the Court to allow him to serve as Treasury Secretary, a position he was forced to resign from almost one year ago following the Lanka Marine Service (LMS) judgment. In the LMS judgment delivered in July 2008 by former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, the Court found Dr. Jayasundera to have acted above his authority, violated provisions of the Constitution and was disqualified from holding public office. He was fined Rs.500,000 as compensation to the state and had to tender an apology to the Court through an affidavit submitted in October 2008.
The petition filed by Dr. Jayasundera states that he is not guilty of any misconduct and had noted in a letter to the President dated 25 July 2008 that he had ‘maintained the highest level of integrity and…discharged…duties with utmost commitment in good faith and in the best interests of the country and never compromised under any circumstances the public interest…’
The 22nd respondent in the LMS case, former PERC Chairman Nihal Sri Ameresekere, who filed objections to Dr. Jayasundera’s petition stated that similar attempts to impugn judgments which were made in the Water’s Edge Case have been lucidly dealt with through the judgment made on August 3, 2009 and is aptly applicable, to likewise warrant the rejection or dismissal of Dr. Jayasundera’s application. Mr. Ameresekere added that the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms are inseparable from the performance of fundamental duties in terms of Article 28 of the Constitution. In the face of several grave and serious findings of the Court of flagrant violations by Dr. Jayasundera, he stands debarred from seeking refuge under the Constitution to endeavour to enforce his fundamental rights and freedoms.
In other objections, Mr. Ameresekere said statements in Dr. Jayasundera’s petition to the Court about having maintained the highest level of honesty and integrity and discharging his duties ‘with utmost commitment in good faith and in the best interests of the country’ were incorrect and as further from the truth and reality. He is asking the Court to dismiss Dr. Jayasundera’s application. |
E-mail