Commercial High Court summons Adam Expo ex-company secretary

By S. S. Selvanayagam

The Commercial High Court of Colombo issued summons to former AdamExpo Ltd. Company Secretary Dilanka Mendis for the alleged offence of contempt.

High Court Judge Ruwan Fernando issued the summons pursuant to the petition filed by Dr. Ali Asger Shabbir Gulamhussein.

The petitioner, in his petition, pleaded the Court to charge accused-respondent Senapathige Kulamini Dilanka Mendis for being in Contempt of Court by willfully making alleged false statements in two of her affidavits filed in the Commercial High Court.

The petitioner stated the accused-respondent has sworn in her Affidavit to the effect that she was appointed as Secretary to eight companies, including Adamexpo, with effect from 6 May 2016, and her appointment as Secretary of Adamexpo and the resignation of her purported predecessor Shane De Silva as Secretary from Adamexpo were notified to the Registrar of Companies on one single Company’s Form 20.

He also stated the accused-respondent has allegedly  willfully lied to court by denying that she succeeded Thilini Dilusha Gamage as Secretary of Adamexpo. He further states she ha affirmed in her Affidavit that a Company’s Form 19 denoting her consent to act as Company Secretary of Adamexpo Limited was also filed with the Registrar of Companies and that she prepared the aforementioned Forms and personally filed them with the Registrar of Companies.

He states that the accused-respondent has allegedly lied and misrepresented the court by making false allegations in her Affidavits to the effect that three office assistants of the Petitioner in the said case came to her office and took away all files pertaining to Adamexpo claiming that the petitioner wanted them on or around the 2nd week of June 2017, a few days after the demise of Dr. Shabbir Abbas Gulamhusein.  

Petitioner submitted certified copies of documents obtained from the Registrar of Companies along with his petition to prove that one Thilini Dilusha Gamage functioned as the Company Secretary of Adamexpo from 16 March 2016 to 2nd January 2017, replacing Shane de Silva and that the accused-respondent succeeded Thilini Dilusha Gamage as company secretary of Adamexpo only on 2 January 2017.

The petitioner has also annexed the duly filed Annual Return Form 15 dated 14 February 2017, which is signed by the accused-respondent as the Company Secretary which evidences the petitioner owns the said 7,981,253 shares as of 11 July 2016, which is the subject matter of the said case.

K. Kanag-Iswaran PC with Niranjan Arulpragasam, instructed by G.G.Arulpragasam, appeared for the petitioner.