Claiming that it is not possible to file a lawsuit regarding a statement made by a parliamentarian in Parliament according to the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ajith Rajapakse said however that there is a possibility to do so in certain cases according to the standing orders (SOs) of Parliament, which he said are legally superior to the said Act.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, citing several provisions of the said Act, questioned as to whether an MP could be sued over their statements in Parliament, mentioning that a case had been filed before a court against MP Roshan Ranasinghe in relation to a statement that the latter had made in Parliament. Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, in response, said that no MP could be sued in that way.
Against this backdrop, The Daily Morning queried Rajapakse as to whether they would summon the person who had filed a case against Ranasinghe. In response, he said that the filing of a case against Ranasinghe is not wrong, according to the SOs. “The Opposition Leader was querying about something in the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act. According to it, lawsuits cannot be filed, but the SOs are above that Act. It is based on them (SOs) that Parliament mostly works. According to them, what Ranasinghe did is wrong.”
Claiming that it was he who was chairing Parliament when Ranasinghe made the statement in question, he said that he had informed the latter of the relevant SOs. “We can speak as much as we need about a judgment, but according to the SOs, an MP cannot speak about something that is before court, or on a judge's personal matters. I was chairing Parliament on the day he made this statement, and I told him (Ranasinghe) about it. In that way, filing a case against him is not wrong.”
A petition was recently filed before the Court of Appeal seeking legal action against Ranasinghe over contempt of court. The relevant petition was filed by attorney-at-law Dimitri Shiraz Augustus Pietrangeli, alleging that a recent statement made by Ranasinghe in Parliament was prejudicial to the President of the Court of Appeal, his career, and character. The petitioning party says that as per parliamentary tradition, such statements cannot be made regarding judges of the country’s second-most top court.