The Court of Appeal today issued an interim injunction order restraining Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning until the hearing of the Writ of Quo Warranto filed against them holding office.
The Court of Appeal today concluded the consideration of the Writ of Quo Warranto filed by 122 Members of Parliament against Rajapaksa and his government’s continuation in office after two no-confidence motions had been passed against it.
Consideration of the Writ of Quo Warranto resumed before the Court of Appeal for the second day this morning while the court’s decision whether to grant leave to proceed with the petition or not was to be at 3.00 p.m. today (03).
The petition was taken up for consideration before a two-member judge bench consisting Court of Appeal President Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justice Arjuna Obeysekara.
The application was also taken up for consideration on November 30 while Rajapaksa’s lawyers had requested the Appeals Court to dismiss the the Writ of Quo Warranto on that day.
Parliamentarians who filed the Quo Warranto petition say that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has no parliamentary majority and the speaker too has confirmed this.
As a result, the petitioners claim that Mahinda Rajapaksa is not legally entitled to hold office of Prime Minister under to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.
Hence, the petitioners have appealed to the Court of Appeal to nullify the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister as per the provisions of the Constitution.
The petitioners have been named Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and 49 others as respondents of the case.
