Speaker Mahinda Yappa Abeywardana announced the decision of the High Court regarding the said law in the House yesterday.
In this regard, he further said,
Article 121(1) of the Constitution requires certain clauses in the ‘Management of Government Finances’ Bill challenged in the Supreme Court to be passed by a special majority in Parliament and a popular vote.
Accordingly, the interpretation given to the words “members of the Judicial Service” is inconsistent with Article 4(c), Article 12(1) and Article 108 read with Article 3 of the Constitution.
These must be passed by a special majority in Parliament and a referendum.
However, as suggested in the summary of the judgment of the High Court, section 71 provides an exemption for the words “members of the judicial service”.
And section 3(2)(b) should be deleted and the inconsistency would be removed if the proposed new sub-section is added to the summary of the High Court judgment.
Also, the interpretation given to the words “State-owned company” is inconsistent with Articles 12(1) and 148 of the Constitution. It is declared that even with the amendments proposed in its summary, it must be passed by a special majority of the Parliament.
Similarly, Speaker Mahinda Yappa Abeywardena also said that the High Court judgment says that a plebiscite with a special majority is necessary to fulfill some other clauses.
