The Sri Lankan Attorney General’s Department has informed the Supreme Court that Jude Shramantha Jayamaha, convicted in the Royal Park murder case and later granted a Presidential pardon, is no longer in Singapore.
The information was revealed yesterday (29) during the hearing of a fundamental rights petition filed in connection with his release.
Appearing for the Attorney General, senior State Counsel Sajith Bandara stated that although Sri Lankan authorities initially requested Singapore to extradite Jayamaha, Singaporean authorities have now confirmed he is not in their country. He further said that a special investigation has been launched to trace Jayamaha’s current whereabouts. The Bench, comprising Justices S. Thurairaja, Yasanta Kodagoda, and Janak de Silva, expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of progress in locating him nearly a year after the court order.
The court was also informed that efforts are underway to obtain an arrest warrant, although delays occurred due to issues retrieving the original case file.
The petition will be taken up again on July 28, with the Attorney General’s Department ordered to report the progress.
The Supreme Court was informed that former President Maithripala Sirisena has fully paid the one million rupee compensation he was ordered to pay after the Presidential pardon was revoked.
Due to various issues that have arisen within many political parties during the selection of members for LG bodies, submission of name lists to the Election Commission (EC) are being delayed, reports say.
As a result, the establishment of LG bodies is expected to be delayed further.
In this backdrop, the EC has instructed all political parties and independent groups to submit their name lists within a week.
The gazette on the newly appointed members will follow only after the EC receives all lists.
The Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs has issued a letter over a program organized by Br. Charles Thomas.
The relevant program is scheduled to be held today (May 17) at the historic Padeniya temple and is allegedly scheduled to be held in a manner that is harmful to Buddhism.
The letter notes that the Deputy Minister has taken steps to cancel the program following complaints from various parties, citing strong displeasure expressed by the local Buddhist community.
The Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education has announced that applications are now open for admissions for Grade 12 students for the Advanced Level (A/L) Vocational stream subjects.
According to the Ministry, the vocational stream will be offered in 608 schools starting this year.
The Ministry further clarified that students who have not passed the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examination will still be eligible to apply, as O/L results will not be a determining factor for admission to this stream.
For this, students need to submit an application to the principal of the school they wish to enroll in.