Contempt of court application: Appeal Court closes Wigi’s case

The Court of Appeal has closed the contempt of court application against former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief MinisterMP C.V. Wigneswaran and two others as the prosecution and the defence managed to reach a settlement.

The application was taken up before the Court of Appeal two-judge bench comprising Justices Mahinda Samayawardhena and Priyantha Fernando yesterday (16).

Attorney-at-Law Suren Fernando, representing former Northern Province Minister of Fisheries, Transport, Trade, and Rural Development B. Deniswaran, who lodged the case against Wigneswaran for removing him from the ministerial portfolio, told the two-judge bench that Wigneswaran and former NPC Minister Ananthi Sasitharan have agreed to withdraw an appeal filed with the Supreme Court.

He accordingly notified the two-judge bench that his client does not wish to proceed with the application.

K. Kanag-Isvaran PC, who represented Wigneswaran and Sasitharan, confirmed his clients’ wish to withdraw the relevant appeal.

Thereby, the Appeals Court bench decided to close the contempt of court application against former NPC Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and former NPC ministers Ananthi Sasitharan and K. Sivanesan.

In 2018, Deniswaran filed an application before the Court of Appeal against Wigneswaran accusing him of contempt of court by failing to carry out the court order to re-appoint him in his ministerial portfolio.