Petitioners’ counsel apologises for addressing ex-Prez as Mister

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At the outset of today’s argument, Counsel Suren Fernando, appearing for the petitioners, apologized to Court for naming former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the petition as Mister and naming Minister Vajira Abeywardena as honourable in the same petition.

He said it was an oversight and that he took the responsibility as counsel while stating that it was not the fault of the petitioners. He said he had already apologized to the respondent’s counsel about the oversight which happened due to the hurried drafting of the petition.

However, Romesh de Silva PC and Gamini Marapana PC stressed that even though the apology could be accepted, the defect in the petition for citing the then president in person could not be avoided and the  assumption of that the petitioners’ intention was mala fide should not be set aside.

The Court said it would address this matter in due course