The future looks bleak for former President of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) Rizly Illyas, following the refusal by the Court of Appeal to issue an interim order suspending the gazette notification which had suspended the registration of SLR and appointed a Stabilisation Committee to manage its affairs.
On Friday (14), a two-judge bench of the Court of Appeal comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice M.A.R. Marikar made an order issuing notice to the respondents, including Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe and the members of the newly-appointed Stabilisation Committee in the matter bearing No. CA(Writ)204/2023.
The Court of Appeal in its order granted an interim order preventing the Sports Minister, the Ministry of Sports, the Youth Affairs Secretary, and the Department of Sports Development Director General from interfering in the affairs of Sri Lanka Rugby until the final determination of the matter.
The Court of Appeal refused the main interim order desired by Illyas and the former officer bearers of Sri Lanka Rugby, which was the suspension of gazette notification No. 2327/07 dated 11 April 2023, whereby the Minister of Sports had suspended the registration of Sri Lanka Rugby and appointed a Stabilisation Committee to manage its affairs.
This order by the Court of Appeal represents a significant blow to Illyas and the other former office bearers of Sri Lanka Rugby who had filed this writ application for the primary purpose of taking back control of SLR from the Stabilisation Committee.
To make matters worse for Illyas, the legal counsel for the Minister of Sports submitted to court on Friday that the appeal filed by Illyas against his expulsion from Asia Rugby had been denied.
The root cause for this ongoing legal dispute was the fact that Illyas was suspended and subsequently expelled from Asia Rugby for violating several articles of the Asia Rugby Code of Conduct by threatening and making public defamatory statements against current Asia Rugby President Qais Al-Dhalai.
In terms of Regulation 5 (4) (P) of the National Associations of Sports Regulations No.1 of 2016 and Article 20 (P) of the Sri Lanka Rugby Constitution, any person suspended by a regional or international sports body shall not hold office in Sri Lanka Rugby.
Despite repeated warnings by the Sports Minister to adhere to the law, the Illyas-led Sri Lanka Rugby adamantly refused to comply with their legal obligations.
Therefore, on 11 April, the Minister of Sports suspended the registration of Sri Lanka Rugby for the continued violation of its legal obligations under the Sports Regulations and its Constitution and appointed the Stabilisation Committee headed by Chula Dharmasena.
In the Court of Appeal, Illyas and the other former officer bearers of Sri Lanka Rugby were represented by Dr. Faisz Musthapha, PC, Attorney-at-Law Keerthi Tillekaratne, and Attorney-at-Law Panduka Keerthinanda.
Senior Additional Solicitor Sumathi Dharmarathna, PC and State Counsel Chaya Sri Nammuni appeared for the Sports Minister. Uditha Egalahewa, PC, Amaranath Fernando, and Shenal Fernando appeared for the Stabilisation Committee.