SC vacates stay orders on arrest of Ex-Kurunegala Mayor

The Supreme Court today vacated a stay order by the Court of Appeal not to enforce the warrants issued for the arrest of the Kurunegala former Mayor and four others over an incident of demolition of a building with archaeological value.

Accordingly the former Kurunegala Mayor Thushara Sanjeewa Vitharana and the others could now be arrested by the Police over the incident.

Mr. Vitharana and four others  filed a writ petition with the Court of Appeal seeking an order to prevent the enforcement of the warrant issued for his arrest.

This was after the Kurunegala Magistrate Court issued warrants for the arrest of the Kurunegala Mayor and four others with regard to the case filed over the demolition of a building in Kurunegala with archaeological value.

The writ application filed by the five petioners individuals against whom the warrants were issued, was called up in the presence of Court of Appeal President A. H. M. D. Nawaz and Justice Sobitha Rajakaruna.

Deputy Solicitor General Mahdawa Tennakoon made submissions on behalf of the Attorney General.

The bench comprised of Preethi Padman Surasena, Kumudini Wickremesinghe and Shiran Gooneratne.

The Kurunegala Urban Commissioner Pradeep Nishantha Thilakeratne, Urban Engineer Chaminda Bandara, Work Superintendent Illaludeen Zulfikar and Backhoe loader operator Lakshman Priyantha are the other four suspects in the case filed in the Kurunegala Magistrate courts.