SC remands Immigration and Emigration Controller General

Immigration and Emigration Controller General Harsha Illukpitiya has been remanded by the Supreme Court on contempt of Court charges for failing to implement the interim order on the implementation of the electronic visa process until the conclusion of the case.

The relevant fundamental rights petitions were ordered to be taken up again on January 22, 2025.

On September 13, the Supreme Court ordered to file contempt of Court charges against the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration for failing to obey the court’s interim order to suspend the implementation of the electronic visa system.

The Court yesterday also ordered the petitioning party to draft the charges and present it before the court.

The order was issued by the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court consisting of Judges Preethi Padman Surasena, Kumudini Wickremasinghe and Achala Wengappuli. When these petitions were called according to a previously issued notice, the Controller of Immigration and Emigration personally appeared before the court and the charge sheet against him for contempt of court was read by the Supreme Court Registrar in open Court.

The Controller stated that he is innocent of the charges. President’s Counsels Faiz Mustapha and Faiza Makar, who represented the Controller of Immigration and Emigration in court, stated that there were some technical and practical problems in the implementation of the relevant order.

The President’s Counsel also mentioned that the Controller of Immigration and Emigration had been on special leave abroad for a duty requirement. She also mentioned that a motion was submitted to the court stating the practical problems in the implementation of the order. She mentioned further that this order can be implemented in a period of two months.

Supreme Court Justice Wengappuli pointed out that Mobitel, which had dealt with the provision of the Visa Issuance Service had informed him that it had been mentioned earlier that one month was adequate to process the relevant order

The petitioner, former Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran, stated that the Controller of Immigration and Emigration had not made any effort to act according to the relevant order.

He pointed out that Mobitel had given a written notice that the relevant order can be implemented in 24 hours, but the next day, the Controller of Immigration and Emigration had submitted a motion to the court that the relevant order cannot be implemented. He said that the Controller had concealed facts about the letter given by Mobitel.

The President’s Counsel who represented the defendant stated that the relevant order can be implemented in 48 hours. However, she later mentioned that one month is enough for that. The attention of the court was drawn to the fact that the position of the defendant regarding the implementation of the relevant order changed from time to time.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Rauff Hakeem, who submitted the facts, stated that the accused had failed to implement the relevant order because he was keenly interested in the implementation of the new visa system. It was submitted that the non-implementation of orders given by the court cannot be taken lightly. After considering the facts submitted, the bench decided to recall the petitions on January 22 next year.

These petitions had been submitted by former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, former Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem.

The Supreme Court, after considering the facts presented by the petitioning MPs, suspended the implementation of the decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers to transfer the e-visa issuance system to two private companies and issued an interim order on August 2. The Supreme Court also issued an interim order on that day to take steps to issue visas according to the previous system.

Subsequent to the fact that the Controller of Immigration and Emigration had not taken steps to implement the relevant interim orders, Mobitel had filed a motion.

When the Controller of Immigration and Emigration was summoned to the court earlier to inquire about the matter, two Deputy Controllers had appeared before the Court since he had been abroad.

After hearing the testimony of one of the officials that day, the bench had decided to take action against the Controller of Immigration and Emigration for contempt of Court.

The Cabinet led by the Prime Minister, the foreign companies nominated to receive the e-visa service, and the Attorney General are the respondents in these petitions.

The petitioners claim that the Cabinet of Ministers had decided to change the existing system of issuing electronic visas at the international airports of Sri Lanka and obtain them from foreign companies.

Due to this, the visa fees would increase greatly and the income received in this country is being sent to other parties as a result, the petitions pointed out.

It has been pointed out by the petitioners that due to the provision of this e-visa service to foreign companies, there is a risk of the country’s important security information being disclosed to another party, which may pose a threat to national security.

The petitioners also state that if such a situation occurs, the people will have to face its adverse consequences in the future. It has also been pointed out by the petitioners that there may be a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution.

Therefore, the petitioners had requested for an interim injunction to stay the decision to outsource the e-visa service to external companies.

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