Mahinda’s appeal against interim order taken up today

The appeal filed against the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal restraining Mahinda Rajapaksa from holding office of Prime Minister and his Cabinet from functioning, is slated for support on December 14 by the Supreme Court.

On December 3, the Court of Appeal issued an interim order restraining Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning until the hearing of the Writ of Quo Warranto filed against them is concluded.

However, the following day an appeal was filed with the Supreme Court against the interim order stating that the interim order is unconstitutional and that the Court of Appeal has no authority to issue such orders. The appeal was filed by attorneys on behalf of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The 122 MPs who had signed the Writ of Quo Warranto petition, against Mahinda Rajapaksa holding office as Prime Minister, have been named as respondents in the appeal.

Meanwhile, a lawyer on behalf of Ranil Wickremesinghe has filed a motion before the Supreme Court requesting a five-member judge panel for the hearing of the aforementioned appeal.

A second motion has also been filed at the Supreme Court by 122 MPs who are named respondents of the appeal, requesting the relevant appeal not to be heard before Judge Eva Wanasundara in fear of a biased judgement.

(Source: Ada Derana)