Bar Association contemplating legal action against SLBC chairman
September 22, 2012 04:41 pm
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has unanimously decided at its general meeting to look into the possibility of taking legal action against the chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), Hudson Samarasinghe.
It is said that a committee comprising four President’s Counsel have been appointed to look into legal provisions to file a case after a proposal brought forth by Attorney Upul Jayasuriya was unanimously approved.
The committee comprises of President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, Ikram Mohamed, Shibly Azeez and Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, according to Bar Association sources.
The lawyers are of the opinion that certain comments made by the head of the state broadcasting institution, in his morning radio show regarding the recent attack on the Mannar Court Complex, had been defamatory to the Mannar Magistrate Anthony Pillai Judeson and his family members.
He had even launched wild accusations against the Magistrate’s sister claiming she had had links with the LTTE terrorist organization, President’s Counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya pointed out.
In addition to this Mr Samarasinghe had also made defamatory comments regarding the three-member judge bench led by the Chief Justice and had disrespected the sovereignty of the court by criticizing the verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the ‘Divi Neguma’ Draft Bill.
Therefore the Bar Association has decided to look into the accusations against the SLBC chairman of allegedly committing contempt of court and making statements defamatory to judges and courts procedures, and take respective legal action against him.
It is said that a committee comprising four President’s Counsel have been appointed to look into legal provisions to file a case after a proposal brought forth by Attorney Upul Jayasuriya was unanimously approved.
The committee comprises of President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, Ikram Mohamed, Shibly Azeez and Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, according to Bar Association sources.
The lawyers are of the opinion that certain comments made by the head of the state broadcasting institution, in his morning radio show regarding the recent attack on the Mannar Court Complex, had been defamatory to the Mannar Magistrate Anthony Pillai Judeson and his family members.
He had even launched wild accusations against the Magistrate’s sister claiming she had had links with the LTTE terrorist organization, President’s Counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya pointed out.
In addition to this Mr Samarasinghe had also made defamatory comments regarding the three-member judge bench led by the Chief Justice and had disrespected the sovereignty of the court by criticizing the verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the ‘Divi Neguma’ Draft Bill.
Therefore the Bar Association has decided to look into the accusations against the SLBC chairman of allegedly committing contempt of court and making statements defamatory to judges and courts procedures, and take respective legal action against him.
