Judicial Review -By LeN Legal Affairs Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -14.July.2025, 11.00 PM) The Court of Appeal today (14) dismissed, without leave for further examination, a series of writ petitions that sought to prevent the holding of secret ballots to elect the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of several local government authorities, including the Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha.
The petitions were filed by a group of opposition members representing various local authorities in the Western Province. Their principal prayer was for an interim injunction against the Provincial Commissioner of Local Government, Mrs. Sarangika Jayasundara, restraining her from proceeding with arrangements for secret ballots in the respective local councils.
Delivering the order, the Court of Appeal bench comprising President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya, and Justice Priyantha Fernando, declined to grant leave to proceed, effectively disposing of the petitions without substantive inquiry.
The petitioners sought to suspend the electoral processes scheduled to take place within multiple local bodies—including the Seethawaka Urban Council, Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha, and Mawathagama Pradeshiya Sabha—on the basis that the procedure for secret voting would allegedly compromise democratic transparency and facilitate undue political influence.
However, the Court, in its brief pronouncement, held that the petitions did not present sufficient legal grounds or justiciable merit to warrant judicial intervention at the interlocutory stage. No interim relief was granted, and the petitions were accordingly rendered ineffectual.
Legal counsel appearing for the petitioners had argued that the Provincial Commissioner’s decision to proceed with secret ballots lacked procedural fairness and failed to uphold principles of good governance in local administration. They also contended that such a method was susceptible to manipulation and contrary to the spirit of democratic representation at grassroots level.
Nonetheless, the Court of Appeal maintained that the relevant statutory provisions governing local government procedures provide discretion for such electoral mechanisms, and absent a clear breach of the law or demonstrable irreparable harm, the court would not interfere in internal administrative arrangements of local authorities.
This decision sets a precedent for future challenges to the electoral procedures of local bodies, reinforcing the judiciary’s reluctance to intervene in intra-administrative matters without compelling cause. It also signals a broader judicial tendency to uphold administrative autonomy unless statutory or constitutional violations are evident.
Legal analysts note that the ruling reaffirms the constitutional balance between judicial oversight and administrative discretion, particularly in the context of local self-governance.
With the dismissal of the petitions, the path is now clear for the scheduled secret ballots to proceed, as per the existing guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Local Government for the Western Province. The appointments of Chairpersons and Vice Chairpersons in the concerned councils are expected to take place imminently.
By LeN Legal Affairs Correspondent
---------------------------
by (2025-07-14 17:57:33)
Read 1086 Times
Leave a Reply
0 discussion on this news