Judges shun bench during Sri Lanka cricket board court case

The chair of the Court of Appeal, Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, and justice Dhammika Ganepola have asking the case be referred to a different bench.

Representative Photo: Judges shun bench during Sri Lanka cricket board court case | Photo Credit: BALAJI N/ The Hindu

At least two judges of the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka have recused themselves from hearing Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe’s plea to overturn the writ issued against his action to appoint an interim committee for running cricket in the country.

The chair of the Court of Appeal, Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, and justice Dhammika Ganepola have asking the case be referred to a different bench.

The case will now be taken up on November 16 by justices DN Samarakoon and Neil Iddawela.

Ranasinghe had alleged bias when the Court of Appeal issued a writ against his interim committee headed by World Cup winning captain captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

The Appeal Court the next day reinstated the elected SLC administration of Shammi Silva who has his term left until May of 2025.

Ranasinghe sacked him based on a national audit recommendations of alleged financial mismanagement of SLC funds by Silva administration.

Silva, in a counter punch, charged that the Minister was obstructing the freedom of SLC management through political interference.

The chaos in Sri Lankan cricket came after the national team’s early exit from the World Cup, leading to a suspension from the International Cricket Council on ground of government interference.

The ICC suspended Sri Lanka citing ministerial action as a violation of its governance rules and said the conditions of suspension would be informed later.