Thondaman, Sivalingam receive suspended imprisonment

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 July 2008, 03:15 GMT]
Nuwereliya Magistrate Court served Tuesday a verdict of six months imprisonment suspended for three years and a fine of thousand rupees each for violating a court order, on Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) leader, Minister Arumugam Thondaman, Deputy Minister Muththu Sivalingam and Central Provincial Council member, V. Rathakrishnan, sources in Nuwareliya said.

The verdict was served after inquiring into the petition filed by S. Sathasivam, a former Member of Parliament, General Secretary of CWC and an advisor for Sri Lanka President.

Though nine had been cited as respondents in the above case the magistrate found only three of them guilty of the charges and warned that the three will be imprisoned for three months each if they fail to pay the fine.

Sathasiivam, on quitting CWC, had filed a petition in Nuwereliya Court related to the use of CWC office located in Lady Nuwereliya Macalum Drive.

The Court, inquiring into the petition on 31.08.2000, had served a verdict that Sathasivam can use the CWC office and CWC had appealed against this verdict in Colombo District Court.

Colombo District Court served an interim injunction on Sathasivam using the said CWC office following which the CWC brought the office under their control.

Sathasivam appealed against the above verdict in Nuwereliya Magistrate Court where his petition was rejected.

He again appealed against the verdict in Kandy High Court which ordered Nuwereliya Magistrate to inquire into the petition filed by Sathasivam requesting Court order to use the CWC office.

This case which had been inquired into since 2005 came to an end Tuesday and the three defendants were served a sentence of suspended imprisonment and fine.

Minister Arumugam Thondaman, General Secretary of CWC, Deputy Minister Muthu Sivalingam, Central Provincial Council members V. Rathakrishnan and K. P. Kovintharajan, Deputy Minister S. Jegatheeswaran, former Deputy Mayor of Nuwereliya, Ponnaiah Sivarajah, CWC National Organizer, R. Yogarajan, Former president of Nuwereliya Predesa Saba, P. Sakthivel and CWC Administrative Secretary, M. Chandran were cited as respondents in this case.

When Attorneys appearing on behalf of the defendants sought permission to appeal against the verdict, the magistrate postponed the sentence to 26 August.

Attorneys Sivajothy and Yogarajan appeared on behalf of the defendants while Attorneys Daya Perera and Rasika Weerathunge appeared for the plaintiff.

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