Petitioners say new appointments violate the constitution

The court postponed the hearing on petitions by Avadhi Lanka and Simogh Organisations against appointments made to National Police Commission (NPC) and Public Services Commission (PSC) to 28 April.

The petitioners have argued that the appointments to said institutions could only be made by Constitutional Council (CC), according to 17 amendment to 1978 constitution.

The CC currently does not function as smaller political parties have not decided on their representation.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which supports Rajapaksa government, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Jathika Hela Urumaya are still undecided over who should appoint the minority representative to the CC.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has meanwhile appointed members for the NPA and PSC without waiting for nominations from the CC.

The petitioners have argued that the president’s move was unconstitutional.

The Appeals Court on Wednesday issued notice to 41 people including President’s Secretary, Attorney General and others who were cited in the petitions as respondents.

The petitioners have requested the courts to invalidate the appointments made by Rajapaksa and issue an interim order against the functioning of newly appointed bodies.