The contempt of court case filed against the Controller General (CG) of Immigration and Emigration Harsha Illukpitiya, who is currently in remand custody, was taken up for hearing before the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday (16).
The hearing was conducted before a three-Judge bench comprising President’s Counsel (PC) and Justice Yasantha Kodagoda, and Justices Janak De Silva, and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
The first witness to give evidence was SC Registrar Aravinda Gunaratne. Under the direction of M.A. Sumanthiran PC — who is one of the petitioners — Gunaratne testified that three Fundamental Rights petitions are currently pending before the SC, challenging the electronic visa (e-Visa) issuance process. He stated that interim injunctions had been issued by the Court in this regard on 2 August 2023. He further noted that the respondent, Illukpitiya, had subsequently filed an affidavit informing the Court of difficulties in implementing the said orders.
Following testimony from officials of the Department of Immigration and Emigration, contempt of court charges were filed against Ilukpitiya for non-compliance.
Subsequent evidence was also recorded from a representative of Sri Lanka Mobitel, which was involved in the e-Visa issuance process.
During the proceedings, Saliya Pieris PC, appearing for the respondent, requested the Court to issue an order to summon several files from the Department of Immigration and Emigration relevant to the case. The bench granted the request and directed the Department to submit the files in a sealed envelope to the Court Registrar.
Accordingly, the hearing was adjourned until 1 July.
Previously, the SC had issued an interim injunction ordering the reinstatement of the previous visa issuance system. This followed a decision made by the Cabinet of Ministers under the former administration to transfer the e-Visa process to two private entities — an action now under legal scrutiny.
Illukpitiya was remanded on 25 September 2024, after being charged with contempt of court for failing to comply with the interim injunction. His bail application was subsequently denied.
The petitions were filed by former Parliamentarians Patali Champika Ranawaka, Sumanthiran PC, and attorney Rauff Hakeem.