AG to indict Vijayakala in Court of Appeal

Jaffna District Parliamentarian Vijayakala Maheswaran will be indicted in the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General, the first time Article 157(a) of the Constitution will be tested 35 years after this article became law, a senior official of the Attorney General’s Department said. Since this is the first case brought before the CA under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution and with no procedural precedent, legal experts say new procedures will have to be adopted in this case. For example, as there is no witness box in the CA, such arrangements will have to be made to hear the case.

Investigations have shown three prima facie grounds on which Ms. Maheswaran can be charged but the AG has decided to charge her with two offences under Section 120 of the Penal code and Article 157(a) of the Constitution. The third allegation is an offence under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act but as there is inadequate evidence to proceed under this, the charges have been dropped. The AG’s Department said that the indictments would be served next week. Police are expected to file a plaint in the Magistrate Court under Section 120 of the Penal Code.