The Court of Appeal informed that the verdict on the preliminary objections filed pertaining to the Contempt of Court petition against the former Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council (NPC) C.V. Wigneswaran and other NPC members, on the 31st of January 2019.

The petition was to be heard before Justices Kumudini Wickramasinghe and Janak de Silva today (10).

However, due to the absentia of Justice Wickramasinghe at the hearing, Justice Janak de Silva informed that the verdict of the case would be announced on January 31.

Former Northern Province Minister of Fisheries, Transport, Trade and Rural Development Balasubramaniam Deniswaran had lodged a case against Wigneswaran over removing him from the ministerial portfolio.

The Court of Appeal had recently issued an interim order, halting this decision taken by the former Chief Minister Wigneswaran.

Subsequently, Deniswaran filed a petition before the Court of Appeal against CM Wigneswaran accusing him of Contempt of Court by failing to carry out the court order to re-appoint him in his ministerial portfolio.

However, Wigneswaran had filed preliminary objections against the petition, stating that the relevant petition is against the law.

Accordingly, the Court of Appeal ordered today (10) that the verdict regarding these preliminary objections would be announced on January 31.