Court to consider Dr. Shafi’s petition on 4 March

The Court of Appeal has directed that a writ petition filed by Dr. Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital be called on 4 March. W h e n t h e p e t i - tion was taken up before Judge Sobhitha R a j a k a r u n a o n Thur s d ay, c ouns e l fo r t h e p e t i t i o n e r, Dr. Shafi, stated that they objected to the conduct of the preliminary disciplinary inquiry against his client by the Director of the Kurunegala Base Hospital, Dr. Chandana Kendagamuwa. Dr. Shafi is seeking an order directing authorities to pay the salary due and payable to him including backwages during his suspension from employment.

Th e p e t i t i o n e r, a gynecologist attached t o K u r u n e g a l a Teaching Hospital said he has been arbitrarily and unlawfully placed u n d e r c o m p u l s o r y leave from his employment without just cause and without legal authority. Th e l awye r s a i d t h at Dr. Chandana Kenda gamuwa was a biased person and t he Public Serv i ce Commission had been informed about him. Additional Solicitor G e n e r a l S u m a t h i D h a r m aw a r d e n a , ap p e a r i n g fo r t h e respondents, argued t h at the Cour t o f Appeal had no jurisdiction to consider a matter that is before t he Public Serv i ce Commission under Articles 58 and 61 of the Constitution. After considering the submissions of both parties, the judge ordered that the petition be called on 4 March. The controve r s i a l action to send Dr. Shafi on compulsory leave was taken on May 23, 2019, with a revelation made by a leading Sri Lankan newspaper that Dr. Shafi has performed illegal sterilizations of thousands of women.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Shafi was ar rested by the Kurunegala Police on May 25, 2019 on charges of illegally acquiring assets. Following the investigations conducted, in June 2019 the Criminal I n v e s t i g a t i o n s De p a r t m e n t ( C I D ) informed court that there was no evidence to prove the allegations made against Dr. Shafi Sihabdeen. S u b s e q u e n t l y, o n 2 5 Ju l y 2 0 1 9 , t h e K u r u n e g a l a Mag i s t r a t e ’s Court ordered that the doctor be released on bail and further investigations were expedited under the CID. The Public Services C o m m i s s i o n i n December 2021 decided to reinstate Dr. Shafi and instructed the Secretary to the Ministry of Health to pay arrears of his salary for the period he was sent on compulsory leave.