SC rejects petition of Royal College student

The fundamental rights petition filed by the 13-year-old son of a former middle school deputy principal of Royal College, was dismissed by the Supreme Court when the matter came up before a Bench of three judges on Thursday.

The Bench comprised Justices Shiranee Tilakawardane, Priyasath Dep PC and Rohini Marasinghe. The petitioner claimed that the school authorities unduly suspended him for misconduct due to strained relationships between his mother, Sumedha Jayaweera, and the head of the institution.

Mrs. Jayaweera has been serving as the Vice Principal of Thurstan College for the past 12 months having been transferred out of Royal College in September 2011.

The petitioner Senindu Induwara Dharmathilaka was suspended by the school from playing squash for a three-week period for a breach of discipline and for causing damage to the good image and good name of the school, by his act. The suspension was imposed only on the sport of squash but he had represented the school in athletics during the period his suspension on squash was in force.

However the Education Ministry had issued two letters to reinstate the player in the squash team, stating he had been exonerated of any misconduct after an inquiry conducted by the Ministry.

The counsel for the petitioner stated that the Education Ministry officials verbally confirmed their decision to the child's parents when they visited the ministry. The threejudge Bench queried why the parents went to the Education Ministry and observed the ministry officials have gone beyond accepted practices without leaving it to the school authorities to act on discipli- nary matters of school children.

Having heard submissions on behalf of the petitioner made by counsel Nayantha Wijesundara, the court held there were no violations of his fundamental rights.

Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane expressed serious concerns of the manner in which the parents of the child had acted in some instances and told counsel for the petitioner to advise his client's parents to seek counselling, and to let the child enjoy his studies and sports.

The Judges also advised the school authorities to take due care of the child as he might feel insecure due to the circumstances surrounding his mother's apparent strained relationship with the school authorities.

C.R. De Silva PC appeared for Royal College. The petitioner was represented by Counsel Nayantha Wijesundara,