Sri Lanka Appeal court to review Fonseka writ petition

Colombo, Feb 25 (PTI) A Sri Lanka Court of Appealtoday decided to continue the inquiry into the writapplication filed by jailed former army commander SarathFonseka against his removal from the parliament.

The Appeal Court set until April 25 for theprosecution to file objections. The petition is to be heard onMay 3, 4 and 9.

The Attorney General has requested the court todismiss the writ application without inquiry since the SupremeCourt had ruled that the Court Martial is a recognised courtin Sri Lanka according to country''s Constitution.

The tri-member Court of Appeal comprising judgesRanjith Silva, A W Salam and Upali Abeyratna has unanimouslydecided to proceed to hear Fonseka''s petition despite thepreliminary objection by the Attorney General, the ColomboPage reported.

In September last year, a court martial found Fonsekaguilty of four charges related to alleged irregularities inmilitary procurements during his tenure as Army Chief, andsentenced him to a 30-month rigorous prison term. He was foundalso found guilty for doing politics while still a soldier.

The DNA leader lost his parliamentary seat due to theprison sentence.

Sarath Fonseka lost in the presidential election heldon January 26 last year to the incumbent President MahindaRajapaksa.

Later on April 8 the same year he was elected toparliament with the highest preferential vote from the Colombodistrict in the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) ticket.

Fonseka had lost his writ he sought to quash thefindings of the court martial when the Supreme Court lastmonth ruled that court martials are legally constitutedcourts.