PETITION TO DEMERGE NORTH AND EAST TO BE HEARD BEFORE A BENCH OF FIVE JUDGES
(By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles)
The fundamental rights petition filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) requesting the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces was allowed by the Supreme Court to be heard before a bench of five judges.
The petition submitted by three parliamentarians of the Eastern Province said that the voters of the Eastern Province have been deprived of having a provincial council and they have been prevented from casting their votes at an election. They requested the court to declare that a provincial council should be established for the Eastern Province and it should be administered by a governor appointed specifically for that province
The petitioners said though it was said that establishing a provincial council would share power with the center, for the Eastern province voters it has become a meaningless effort .
A state counsel who appeared said the government would not be represented in this case. The two provinces were merged by a gazette notification issued by the J. R. Jayewardene government.
