CoA orders Director General of Sports to appear in person for Contempt of Court
Shemal Fernando, DG Sports
The Court of Appeal (CoA) has ordered Shemal Fernando, the Director General of Department of Sports Development of the Ministry of Sports, to physically appear in court on April 3, 2025 as the respondent of contempt of court, with regard to the now stagnated election of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR). As Competent Authority of SLR, Fernando had called in for the long overdue election of SLR following a court ruling, but after one of the nominees, Lasitha Gunaratne, filed a case in the Court of Appeal preventing the SLR election from taking place with his nomination being rejected, six Provincial Unions affiliated to SLR had filed a fresh case accusing Shemal Fernando with contempt of court.
The Provincial Unions claim that Fernando has acted in contradiction to the earlier verdict issued by the court to conduct the SLR elections within a given time-frame. Judge Gihan Kulatunga of the Court of Appeal set the date ordering Fernando to appear in courts in person, after the Colombo District Court issued an interim order preventing the SLR election from taking place, following Lasitha Gunaratne’s appeal. Gunaratne had argued that the Election Committee had accepted the nomination of an individual banned by World Rugby, but not his as a voting right holder. Earlier both parties involved agreed to withdraw the case filed at the Colombo District Court, which allowed SLR to hold the elections as directed by WR and sans the presence of the Director General of Sports. WR had issued an ultimatum to SLR on February 14 to implement a restructured governance framework, approve a new constitution, and conduct the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or elections by June 15.
As the Competent Authority (CA) of SLR, Shemal Fernando, who is also the Director General of Sports (DG), had summoned SLR’s membership, including the Provincial Unions, for a meeting on the second week of March, but it failed to materialise as the matter was a case under judicial review. After months of legal disputes among factions, the long-overdue AGM was finally scheduled to take place following a Court of Appeal verdict in early December, mandating that elections be held on or before January 31, 2025.
With ample time to prepare, the SLR CA—who is also the DG—held a Special General Meeting (SGM) to elect an Election Committee by December 20, 2024. The election process was set in motion, with nominations invited and objections entertained, leading up to the AGM on January 21, after WR issued a strict ultimatum to conduct the AGM before January 31 or face the consequences of a potential suspension.
The WR ultimatum was issued on February 14 after Roshan Deen of WPRFU—one of the seven Provincial Unions that had earlier petitioned the Court of Appeal against the CA’s decision to hold the AGM following SLR’s suspension—filed a fresh case against the DG for Contempt of Court. The move came after the Court of Appeal had directed that the AGM be held under proper constitutional norms. The amendment of the SLR Constitution has been the central issue delaying the AGM.