පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී රාමනාදන් අර්ජුනාගේ මන්ත්රී ධුරයට එරෙහි පෙත්සම දෙසැම්බර් 16 දක්වා කල් තැබේ
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On October 12, the Court of Appeal postponed further arguments in a petition concerning whether Jaffna District MP Archchuna Ramanathan is eligible to remain in Parliament. The court set December 16, 2026, for the case to return before Justices Mayadunne Corea and Mahen Gopallawa.
The petition was brought by social activist Oshala Herath, who asks the court to rule that Archchuna has no legal entitlement to his parliamentary seat. Herath argues that Archchuna was still employed as a government medical officer when he lodged his nomination for the 2024 general election, making him ineligible under constitutional restrictions on public officers becoming MPs.
Archchuna’s representatives have previously said he was interdicted from his medical role without pay and should therefore not count as a public officer under those restrictions. Whether he retained public-office status when nominations were submitted has been a central question in the case.
Arguments did not resume on October 12 because the panel assigned to hear the matter was not properly constituted. The MP’s newly appointed registered attorney, Kaushalya Narendran, told the court that Archchuna intended to engage new counsel. Senani Dayaratne, who had represented him earlier, will no longer act for him. Attorneys N.K. Ashokbharan and Shenal Fernando appeared for Herath.
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