SC Justice recuses himself from Rishad Bathiudeen’s Wilpattu appeal hearing

A Supreme Court justice has today (27) recused himself from hearing an appeal filed by former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen against a Court of Appeal ruling in a case concerning alleged deforestation and resettlement activities in forest areas near the Wilpattu reserve.

The appeal was listed before a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Sampath Abeykoon, and Gihan Kulatunga. At the commencement of proceedings, Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz informed court that he was stepping down from the matter due to personal reasons.

The bench accordingly directed that the appeal be taken up on September 9 before a differently constituted bench.

The original case had been filed in the Court of Appeal in 2015 by the Center for Environmental Justice, challenging the clearing of forest lands in the area and the subsequent settlement of individuals linked to former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and others. After hearing the case, the Court of Appeal ruled that Bathiudeen was responsible for the clearing activities and ordered him to cover the cost of reforestation through payments to the Department of Forest Conservation.

The total cost for reforestation was later estimated by the Department of Forest Conservation at approximately Rs. 1,060 million.

Challenging that ruling, Bathiudeen filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, seeking to have the Court of Appeal’s decision overturned on the grounds that it was unlawful.

It is also noted that several Supreme Court judges, including Justices Mahinda Samayawardhena, Yasantha Kodagoda, Janak de Silva and Arjuna Obeyesekere have previously recused themselves from hearing the matter.