Colombo: A Sri Lanka Court of Appeal
today decided to continue the inquiry into the writ
application filed by jailed former army commander Sarath
Fonseka against his removal from the parliament.
The Appeal Court set until April 25 for the
prosecution to file objections. The petition is to be heard on
May 3, 4 and 9.
The Attorney General has requested the court to
dismiss the writ application without inquiry since the Supreme
Court had ruled that the Court Martial is a recognised court
in Sri Lanka according to country's Constitution.
The tri-member Court of Appeal comprising judges
Ranjith Silva, A W Salam and Upali Abeyratna has unanimously
decided to proceed to hear Fonseka's petition despite the
preliminary objection by the Attorney General, the Colombo
Page reported.
In September last year, a court martial found Fonseka
guilty of four charges related to alleged irregularities in
military procurements during his tenure as Army Chief, and
sentenced him to a 30-month rigorous prison term. He was found
also found guilty for doing politics while still a soldier.
The DNA leader lost his parliamentary seat due to the
prison sentence.
Sarath Fonseka lost in the presidential election held
on January 26 last year to the incumbent President Mahinda
Rajapaksa.
Later on April 8 the same year he was elected to
parliament with the highest preferential vote from the Colombo
district in the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) ticket.
Fonseka had lost his writ he sought to quash the
findings of the court martial when the Supreme Court last
month ruled that court martials are legally constituted
courts.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 01, 2011, 00:59