Cabinet agrees to incorporate SC amendments to Port City Bill
May 18, 2021 07:41 pm
The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to incorporate the amendments recommended by the Supreme Court with regard to the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill.
Earlier this afternoon (May 18), Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the government has agreed with all the determinations and amendments of the Supreme Court on the matter of the Bill and that it could be passed in the parliament with a simple majority.
The determinations of the Supreme Court were presented to the parliament today by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.
The Court had found that several clauses of the Bill were inconsistent with the Constitution.
However, these clauses can either be amended or passed in the parliament with a special majority or in a referendum, the Supreme Court determined.
In its 62-page determination on the Bill, the Supreme Court had also included how the concerning clauses can be amended.
The verdict of the court was handed down by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and Supreme Court Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Murdu Fernando, and Janak de Silva.
