Petition filed seeking to halt polls for CMC

The National People’s Party (Jathika Janatha Pakshaya) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking an interim order against holding elections for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) pending the court’s decision on the rejection of its nomination list. 

The petition has been filed by three candidates including the secretary of the party, President’s Counsel Srinath Perera, while the Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya is among the names listed as respondents. 

The petitioners say that the party’s nomination list for the CMC was rejected by the Colombo Returning Officer citing that the attested copies were not submitted along with the nominations list.

They state that the decision taken to reject the nominations list in that manner was unlawful and therefore they request the court to issue a directive to the respondents to accept the rejected nominations list. 

The petition also urges the court to issue an interim order against holding polls for the CMC until the hearing of the petition concludes and a final decision is delivered by the court.