The Court of Appeal issued an interim restraining order on the basis of a letter issued by the Governor of the Eastern Province, Mr. Sendhil Thondaman, which exceeded the powers assigned to the Provincial Councils under the 13th Amendment of the Constitution and interfered with the activities of the Bureau of Geology and Mining. Sri Lanka Latest News
After considering a writ petition submitted by the Bureau of Geology and Mines, the President of the Court of Appeal. The order was issued by the bench comprising Judge Nishanka Bandula Karunaratne and Judge A. Marikkar.
This order will be valid for 14 days.
In the petition filed before the court by the petitioner Bureau of Geology and Mines, it has been stated that the full power of mineral mining, issuance of related permits, their management etc. has been assigned to their bureau.
According to the petition, it had been stated that his bureau had conducted investigations and identified a 13 square kilometer area in Trincomalee where mineral sand mining could be carried out and the necessary approvals had been obtained from the Urban Development Authority and local government agencies to carry out mining in that area.
Accordingly, it is mentioned in the petition that the company “Mid-West Heavy Sands Private Limited” was contracted to carry out the necessary excavation work on the land in question and the necessary permits were issued for the same and accordingly the concerned company started the excavation work.
In spite of this, on the orders of the Governor of the Eastern Province, the Secretary of the Eastern Province sent a letter on March 16 last, informing the petitioner Geology and The Bureau of Mines has pointed out in its petition.
The petitioner Bureau of Geology and Mining claims in its petition that full powers to issue licenses related to mineral resources and their mining have been assigned to its agencies operating under the central government.
The petitioner says that the activities related to mineral resources are not related to the scope of the Provincial Council and that this order issued by the Governor of the Eastern Province completely exceeds the powers assigned to the Provincial Council under the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.
Accordingly, the Bureau of Geology and Mines has filed this petition before the Court of Appeal requesting to override the 13th Amendment of the Constitution and issue a writ of invalidity of the letter issued by the Governor of the Eastern Province and to issue interim orders to prevent further action based on the said letter.
