Two petitions filed against the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Sirwardena, are due to be taken up before a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court tomorrow (30 March).
Accordingly, the petitions, accusing Siriwardena of contempt of court, are due to be heard before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith Malalgoda and Murdhu Fernando.
The two contempt petitions were filed on 21 March by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and National Freedom Front (NFF) MP Vijitha Herath for failing to comply with an order issued by the Supreme Court, preventing him from withholding funds for the 2023 Local Government (LG) election allocated through the Budget passed in December 2022.
On 03 March, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Janak de Silva and Priyantha Fernando issued an interim order against the Finance Secretary, preventing him withholding the relevant funds allocated through the 2023 Budget for election purposes.
