Court to hear fundamental rights petition against SLC

The Sri Lanka Supreme Court has accepted a fundamental rights petition by United South Sports Club against Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that calls for elections to the country's richest sporting body, and will hear the case on October 26.

United South, a member of the SLC, claims the sports minister has misused his powers by continuing to have an interim committee run the affairs of SLC, thereby bypassing the democratic process of elections. SLC has been run by an interim committee since March 2005. The club wants the Supreme Court to prevent the interim committee members from holding office and functioning until the hearing is over.

The petition names Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee officials DS de Silva (chairman), Nishantha Ranatunga (secretary), Sujeeva Rajapakse (treasurer), Ashley de Silva (head of cricket operations), Ajith Jayasekara (acting CEO), Kalinga Indratissa, Prabhath Fonseka and Asanga Seneviratne (members) as respondents, as well as CB Ratnayake (minister of sports) and the Hon. Attorney General.

The petitioner states that the absence of democratic elections has prevented the members of SLC from electing office bearers who would be accountable to them, and thus the minister is duty-bound to call for fresh elections. The club says that the minister has continuously failed to take steps required to call for fresh elections, thus violating its fundamental rights.

The petitioner has alleged that SLC did not follow the proper procedures in entering into an agreement with Somerset Entertainment Ventures (Singapore) Pvt Ltd that gave them the marketing and sponsorship rights for Sri Lanka domestic cricket for five years.

In addition, the petitioner has claimed there have been several cases of financial misappropriation, including overestimating the costs of repairing a minor earth slip at Surrey Cricket ground, Maggona, and unjustified overseas trips by the secretary, using SLC funds. The club has requested the Supreme Court to issue an interim order preventing SLC officials from directly or indirectly using SLC funds for personal use