Another FR application for re-poll

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2002, 18:35 GMT]
One more fundamental rights application has been filed in the Supreme Court Friday praying to annul the election held on December 5 in the Batticaloa and Vanni electoral districts, and to order a re-poll, stating that the voters residing in areas held by the Liberation Tigers were prevented from exercising their franchise by the Sri Lankan Government troops.

The petitioner, Sothilingam Navaneethan of Vaakarai, north of Batticaloa, has filed this FR application on behalf of electors residing in areas held by the LTTE in Vanni and Batticaloa districts. Twenty-eight persons, including the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and Commissioner of Elections, have been cited as respondents in this application.

The petitioner states that he is a citizen of Sri Lanka, and that he has been prevented from voting in the Batticaloa district. Voters in areas held by LTTE in Vanni region were also prevented from voting at the general election held on December 5.

The Petitioner has prayed in his petition to declare the election held in the Batticaloa and Vanni electoral district null and void, and to order the Elections Commissioner to take steps to hold a re-poll in the said electoral districts.

Including the FR application filed Friday, the number of FR applications filed in the Supreme Court challenging the elections held in Vanni and Batticaloa districts has risen to seven.