Appeal Court to inquire JVP's petition

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 March 2002, 17:43 GMT]
The Court of Appeal Tuesday decided to take up the petition filed by the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the cease-fire agreement signed by the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe and the Leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan for inquiry on Friday 14th March 2002.

In this petition the JVP has sought the Court of Appeal to issue a writ order prohibiting the cease-fire agreement now in force in the country.

The JVP has cited the Prime Minister, LTTE leader, members of the Cabinet and the Attorney General as respondents.

The petition states that the first respondent Prime Minister had signed the agreement with the leader of a proscribed LTTE violating the Constitution of the country.

After preliminary submissions the Court of Appeal decided to take up the petition for inquiry on March 14 Friday.

Meanwhile the Court of Appeal further instructed the parties cited as respondents in the writ application filed by the Sihala Urumaya (SU) on an earlier date against the signing of the cease-fire by Prime Minister and LTTE leader, to table their objections on March 14.

Meanwhile the Constitutional Affairs Minister Professor G.L.Peiris said at a press briefing Tuesday that, "the court should examine the legality of the agreement. Every one has the right to discuss, challenge and debate any government's decision."

"The cease-fire agreement was signed after examining all the facts in the agreement. The UNF government signed the MoU with the LTTE on the trend that it received a mandate from the people at the 2001 general election to usher peace in the country," said Professor Peiris.

The Minister further said, "under the present Constitution the President could declare war or peace in a conflict with another country. There is no question about the legality of the cease-fire agreement under the Constitution."