Deletion of name from Moneragala, Kuttiarachchi goes to SC

Uva Provincial Councillor Tissa Kuttiarachchi has filed a Fundamental Rights petition with the Supreme Court against the non-inclusion of his name in the Moneragala district nomination list filed by the United National Party (UNP) for the upcoming general election.

Tissa Kuttiarachchi is a member of one-time Minister, Mangala Samaraweera’s SLFP (M) wing and was to contest the Moneragala district under the United National Front (UNF) alliance.

The petition requests court to order the UNP to include his (Mr. Kuttiarachchi) name in the said nomination list. Failing which, he prays court to in his petition, to order the Elections Commissioner to reject the UNP nomination list for the Moneragala District.

The petition has named 46 persons including the Elections Commissioner and UNP’s Moneragala district leader Ranjith Madduma Bandara as respondents.

The petition further claims that though Mr. Kuttiarachchi’s name had been included in the nomination list sent by the UNP headquarters for the April 8, 2010 general elections, the party’s district leader Mr. Madduma Bandara had deleted it and included one Chaminda Ratnayake’s name instead.

Mr. Kuttiarachchi urges court to order the Elections Commissioner to conduct an independent probe into this incident.