The Court of Appeal on Tuesday (21) issued an interim injunction preventing Sundaralingam Kandipan from functioning as Mayor of the Vavuniya Urban Council and Parameswaran Karthipan from serving as Deputy Mayor.
This order was issued following the consideration of a writ petition submitted by two members of the Vavuniya Urban Council: Kandaiya Vijaya Kumar and Sivasubramaniam Premadas.
The order was delivered by the bench of Justices Rohantha Abeysuriya and Priyantha Fernando of the Court of Appeal.
According to the order, the interim injunction will remain in effect until the conclusion of the petition hearing. The court further directed that the petition be recalled on November 19.
The petition, filed through Attorney Manjula Balasuriya, states that the Mayor of Vavuniya was elected with 11 votes, while his opponent received 10 votes. It also notes that the individual appointed as Deputy Mayor received 11 votes, while his opponent secured 10 votes.
The petition alleges that the elected Deputy Mayor resides outside the jurisdiction of the Urban Council. The petitioners argue that both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor did not receive a sufficient number of votes to legitimately hold their respective positions.
Accordingly, the petition claims that the individuals lack the legal qualifications to serve in those roles. It further requests a writ order to nullify their appointments, asserting that their assumption of office is unlawful. (Newswire)