Geetha out

No more an MP
SC upholds CA judgement
Ruling to be conveyed to Secretary General of Parliament

The Supreme Court five-judge-Bench headed by Chief Justice Priyasath Dep yesterday unanimously ruled that Galle district Parliamentarian Geetha Kumarasinghe is not qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament since she holds dual citizenship.

The Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal judgment dated May 3 and its order in the nature of writ of Quo Warranto declaring that Galle District MP Geetha Kumarasinghe is disqualified to be a Member of Parliament and thus not entitled to hold office as a Member of Parliament. Accordingly, the appeal filed by Geetha Kumarasinghe was dismissed with cost. The registrar of Supreme Court was directed that this order be sent to the Secretary General of Parliament forthwith.

The judgment was delivered by Supreme Court Judge Sisira de Abrew, who was a member of five-judge-Bench which heard the appeal.

The judgment had been approved by four other judges Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare, Justice Sisira de Abrew, Justice Anil Goonaratne and Justice Nalin Perera.

“When I consider the Article 91(1) (d) (xiii) of the Constitution, I hold that if a candidate in a Parliament Election is a citizen of Sri Lanka and any other country on the day of Parliament election or on the day of taking oaths as a Member of Parliament (MP), he/she cannot be considered as an MP and that office of such a person as an MP is a nullity,” Justice Abrew observed.

“After taking oaths as a MP, if he/she becomes a citizen of any other country or continues to be a citizen of any other country, he/she too cannot be considered as an MP and that office of such a person as a Member of Parliament is nullity” Justice Abrew added.

“I have earlier held that Geetha Kumarasinghe was not qualified to be elected as an MP on August 17, 2015 that she was not qualified to take oaths as MP on September 1, 2015. Thus, a writ of Quo Warranto is available to oust her from MP position. The Supreme Court affirms the Court of Appeal judgment and dismisses the appeal with cost.

Delivering its judgement on the Writ Petition filed by five residents of Galle district, the Court of Appeal on March 3 held that in terms of Article 91(1) (d) (xiii) of the Constitution, Geetha Kumarasinghe is not qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament since she holds dual citizenship in Switzerland and Sri Lanka.

Subsequently, MP Geetha Kumarasinghe filed an Appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Court of Appeal judgment.

On May 15, a divided three-judge-Supreme Court bench had granted special leave to appeal with the petition filed by Mrs. Kumarasinghe.

On a previous occasion, the Supreme Court allowed former Minister Piyasena Gamage to intervene into the appeal filed by Galle District Parliamentarian Geetha Kumarasinghe.

In his petition, former MP Piyasena Gamage observed that Interim Order granted to Geetha Kumarasinghe should be set aside or vacated as the intervenient petition had not been named as a respondent.

The Chief Justice had nominated a fuller Bench comprising five judges of the Supreme Court to hear an appeal filed by Galle district parliamentarian Geetha Kumarasinghe.

In this appeal petition, Geetha Kumarasinghe had cited N.W.E. Buwaneka of Beddegama, J.K. Amarawardhana of Yatalamatta, A.C. Gunasekara of Unawatuna, J.K. Wijesinghe of Ambalangoda and H.L.Prasanna Deepthilal of Galle, Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, the Secretary General of Parliament and several others as respondents.

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva with Counsel Sugath Caldera appeared for MP Geetha Kumarasinghe. President’s Counsel J.C. Weliamuna, Faisz Musthapha PC, Chandaka Jayasundara PC and Pulasthi Rupasinghe appeared on behalf of the respondents.

Deputy Solicitor General Nerin Pulle with Senior State Counsel Suren Gnanaraj appeared for the Secretary General of Parliament and Controller of Immigration and Emigration. Counsel Suren Fernando appeared for intervenient petitioner Piyasena Ranasinghe.