SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO ACCEPT MEDICAL CERTIFICATE PRODUCED BY FORMER MINISTER S. B. DISSANAYAKE
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
July 02, 03.15 AM:A five judge panel of the Supreme Court refused to accept a medical certificate produced by the lawyer of S. B. Dissanayake and severely warned former Minister of Agriculture and United National Party’s National Organizer that the court would proceed without his presence if he ever attempts a similar method when the contempt of court case is taken up before them next time.
The Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva reprimanded Dissanayaka when the case was taken up July 1 before a panel of five Supreme Court Judges including himself and Justices Dr. Shirani Bandaranaike, T. B. Weerassoriya, Nimal Dissanayake and Raja Fernando. All justices were unanimous that the medical certificate submitted by Dissanayake should not be accepted. The Chief Justice said it was a very serious matter not to be present in the courts.
The medical certificate submitted by his lawyer said that Dissanayake was suffering from fever and taking treatment in a private hospital in Mawenella.
In this case the former minister is asked to show cause as to why he should not be punished for the contempt of the Supreme Court for certain remarks and references made in respect of the Supreme Court during a speech he made at a Vap Magul ceremony at Habaraduwa , in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
When the case was taken up June 1 Dissanayaka who appeared in court said that he did not make any derogatory remarks in his original speech and alleged that certain words had been supplanted on the tapes produced in court to maliciously implicate him.
Counsel appearing for him in the contempt of court case were given an opportunity to view the videotapes of the speech. They viewed the videotapes to ascertain whether they contained any derogatory remarks on the Supreme Court or any words had been supplanted in the tapes submitted in the courts.
The tapes were replayed in the hall number 4 of the Supreme Court under the supervision of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Bandula Atapattu.
