Gnanasara Thero and three others issued notice over Contempt of Court

Tuesday, 22 October 2019 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero and three others to appear before Court on 8 November, over a case of Contempt of Court.

The case has been filed over the incident which took place over the final rites of the late Chief Prelate of the Mullaitivu Gurukanda Rajamaha Vihara.

The Court of Appeal issued notice on the Petition filed by TNA MP Shanthi Sri Skandaraja yesterday, alleging that the final rites of the late Chief Prelate of the Mullaitivu Gurukanda Rajamaha Vihara were carried out without consideration of the Court Order issued by the Mullaitivu Chief Magistrate.

The Petition, filed by TNA MP Skandaraja, has named Bodu Bala Sena Secretary General Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in charge of Mullaitivu, Chief Inspector of Mullaitivu Police Headquarters, and as the Respondents of the Petition.

The matter was taken up before Court of Appeal Judges Yasantha Kodagoda and Arjuna Obeysekera.

There was a dispute over an unauthorised construction within Gurukanda Rajamaha Vihara in Mullaitivu, and the general public were not permitted within the premises. While the situation remained, the Chief Incumbent of the temple passed away, and a group of people were preparing to cremate the body of the deceased monk within the temple premises, which led to a tense situation in the area. As the Member of Parliament for the area, the Petitioner was also present during the heated situation. However, Chief Inspector of Mullaitivu Police Headquarters informed the Magistrate Court, and the Court then issued an order prohibiting the cremation of the monk’s remains in the temple premises. While the Petitioner was at the scene, a group of Buddhist monks including Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero took the remains of the Chief Incumbent to the area prohibited by the Court and cremated the remains.

The Petitioner pointed out that Gnanasara Thero has insulted the judiciary. The monk was previously convicted for Contempt of Court and sentenced to six years in prison, and he was later released on a presidential pardon.

Petitioner has therefore requested to conduct an inquiry into this incident and establish appropriate punishment. Attorney at Law M.A. Sumanthiran appeared for the Petitioner.