SC ends hearing Anti-Terrorism Bill petitions after Speaker’s assurance
The Supreme Court decided yesterday (19) to end proceedings regarding the petitions challenging the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill filed by the National People’s Power (NPP) MPs Vijitha Herath, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and others. Since the Speaker had announced that the Bill has not yet been submitted to the Parliament, this decision has been reached stating that the Court is not in a position to hold a hearing on these petitions.These petitions were taken up for hearing before the three-member Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Murdu Fernando and Arjuna Obeysekera. Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle, who represented the Attorney General, stated before the court that the Speaker made an announcement in Parliament on October 18 regarding this Bill.
He mentioned that the Speaker had made it clear that the Bill in question has been included in the agenda of the Parliament but has not been presented to the Parliament, so the Bill is not before the Parliament.Accordingly, he pointed out that the Supreme Court does not have the capacity to inquire into the matter under Article 121 of the Constitution. President’s Counsel Nigel Hatch, representing the petitioner, stated that the relevant bill was entered into the parliamentary agenda on October 3.
Despite this, he stated that the statement that the relevant draft has not been submitted to the Parliament cannot be accepted.
He said that according to Article 121 of the Constitution, it is possible to file petitions before the Supreme Court within 14 days from the date of inclusion of a bill in the parliamentary agenda.
Therefore, he asked the court to hold a hearing and give a verdict on the constitutionality of the Bill in question. President’s Counsel Sumanthiran, also approved this point and submitted facts.
Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya pointed out that the Speaker has confirmed that the relevant Bill has not been submitted to Parliament and that this fact is confirmed by checking the Hansard records. After considering the facts presented by all parties, the Bench decided to end the hearing of the petition. It was mentioned that the petitioners have the possibility to file petitions against the Bill if it is included in the Parliamentary agenda in the future.
These petitions had been filed requesting a ruling that the Clauses included in this Bill violate fundamental human rights and other provisions mentioned in the Constitution. The petitions also demanded that an order be issued that the Bill be approved by a special majority in Parliament and a referendum.
The post SC ends hearing Anti-Terrorism Bill petitions after Speaker’s assurance appeared first on DailyNews.