Dismayed by president's actions, petitioner asks CA to inquire into the state of his mind

A woman, on Monday, filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal seeking an order to institute judicial proceedings to inquire into the state of the mind of President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Officer-in-Charge of the Fort Police and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) have been cited as the first and second respondents in the petition.

The petitioner, Thakshila Lakmali Jayawardena (34), filed the petition through her lawyer Tharangani I. Gunasena, stating that she and her fellow citizens were surprised and dismayed by the gazette notifications issued by the President since October 26. Among the gazettes mentioned are the ones issued removing Ranil Wickremesinghe from the post of Prime Minister, appointing Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place and dissolving Parliament. The petitioner claims these gazettes violate the provisions of the Sri Lankan Constitution.

The petitioner states that 122 MPs out of 225 passed two no-confidence motions against the purported Cabinet and the purported Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The petitioner notes that President Sirisena was duly informed together with the affidavits of the 122 MPs about the motions being approved together with the Speaker’s certificate. The petitioner states that to her and her fellow citizen’s utmost surprise and dismay President Sirisena had “illegally” refused to accept the approval of the motions against Mr Rajapaksa.

The petition also states that while addressing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) representatives at a special convention at the Sugathadasa stadium, the President publicly ridiculed the interim order issued against Mr Rajapaksa and his Cabinet by the Court of Appeal. It also points out that the President had claimed that he would not appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as PM even if all 225 Members of Parliament supported him. The petitioner claims that this is a clear testimony that the President of the Republic intends to continue violating the supreme law of the country.

Accordingly, the petitioner states that she has reasons to believe that President Sirisena, being a human being is of unsound mind and his state of mind should be looked into.

The petitioner has thus appealed to court to grant and issue a mandate in the nature of a Writ of Mandamus against the 1st and 2nd respondents directing them to institute judicial proceedings in the District Court of Colombo by virtue of Section 2 of the Mental Diseases Ordinance for the purpose of inquiring into the state of the mind of the President.