Civil activists yesterday (19) questioned why the law enforcement agencies have failed to act on recent court verdicts over non-citizens holding office in the Legislature.

Civil activist Oshala Herath speaking to The Daily Morning opined that it is regrettable that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has failed to arrest former State Minister Diana Gamage despite the fact that she has violated the Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948.

It was Herath who filed the case before the Supreme Court (SC) which resulted in Gamage losing her Parliamentary seat over her United Kingdom citizenship.

Herath pointed out that nearly two weeks have passed since the SC ruling that Gamage is disqualified to hold office as a Parliamentarian over her UK citizenship, but the CID has not yet arrested her. "If this ruling was against an ordinary citizen, they would have been arrested the very next day, but the CID is reluctant to take action against Gamage. If I didn't go to court and obtain a foreign travel ban on her, she would have fled the country by now. The CID at least didn't bother to prevent her from fleeing the country."

Police Spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General of Police Nihal Thalduwa wasn't available for comment.

On 8 May, the SC declared that Gamage is ineligible to hold a Parliamentary seat. The three-judge bench headed by Justice Janak de Silva reached this decision following the conclusion of an appeal challenging the dismissal of a petition against her Parliamentary membership by the Court of Appeal (CA). Herath had filed the relevant appeal two weeks after his initial petition regarding Gamage's Parliamentary seat and citizenship, was dismissed by the CA.