SC ruling on Divi Neguma bill delivered to Speaker

The Supreme Court’s determination on whether Northern Governor G.A. Chandrasiri can approve and endorse the controversial Divi Neguma bill in place of the Northern Provincial Council was delivered to the Speaker of Parliament yesterday, the Daily FT learns.

Supreme Court adjourned after 12 minutes of sittings last morning, after the Justices said they had a special matter to attend and orders to finalize.

Daily FT learns that the ruling on the Northern Governor was delivered to the Office of the Speaker yesterday afternoon.  However officials weren’t available to comment.

October 31 was the deadline for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the issue since the court must rule within three weeks of the last petition filed. The Tamil National Alliance on 4 October filed action in the Court of Appeal to restrain the Northern Governor from endorsing the Divi Neguma bill on behalf of an un-constituted Northern Provincial Council. The Court of Appeal referred the matter to the Supreme Court for interpretation. Several other petitioners have also filed submissions challenging the constitutionality of the bill after it was referred to the Supreme Court.



No confirmation could be obtained on whether Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa had received the ruling. The Speaker will only present the SC ruling when parliamentary sessions commence again on 6 November.