Court of Appeal to hear cricket elections appeals on Wednesday

The cricket elections scheduled for February 21 now hang in the balance after three candidates filed action in the Court of Appeal challenging the Sports Minister's decision to appoint an Appeals Advisory Committee. The cases are fixed for February 20.

Mohan de Silva and Ravin Wickremaratne have challenged the committee’s rejection of their nominations while Shammi Silva has challenged Jayantha Dharmadasa’s eligibility to contest election.

Silva’s and Wickramaratne’s nominations were rejected under regulation 5(4)(g) on the grounds that they, the candidates, were removed from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in 2005 by the then Minister of Sports by virtue of a gazette notification issued under the section 32 of Sports Law No 25 of 1973.

But they contest that subsequent court challenges against this gazette notification in 2001 and 2005 ended in settlement and, as such, the original removal should not be considered valid at this point in time. This was the opinion entertained by the independent Election Committee constituted to oversee nominations.

Dharmadasa’s nomination had been cleared twice by the Election Committee and the Advisory Committee after it was challenged on the grounds that he had not “represented an affiliate or controlling club or a member cricket association in any major tournament conducted or approved by SLC”. This is deemed a prerequisite for running for SLC President as per the SLC Constitution. Now he faces a fresh legal challenge.

At a press conference in Colombo, Dharmadasa admitted to not having played the game but said he has represented Sri Lanka at International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings and, as such, he was qualified to run for election.