Supreme Court postpones Diana Gamage’s party expulsion case

The Supreme Court has ordered that the petition filed by former State Minister Diana Gamage challenging a decision taken by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) to expel her from party membership be heard on May 28, 2024.

Diana Gamage’s stance regarding this petition is to be communicated to the court on the next date.

This petition was brought before a three-member Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Gamini Amarasekara, Kumuduni Wickremesinghe, and Mahinda Samayawardhena today (May 10).

Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, General Secretary of the SJB Ranjith Madduma Bandara, and several others have been named as respondents in this petition.

The SJB had earlier decided to expel Diana Gamage from the party, citing that she had failed to comply with the unanimous decision taken by the party to vote against the 20th Amendment to the Constitution by voting in favor.

The SJB had also emphasized that this was a serious violation of party discipline and that the Opposition Leader and the SJB’s leader, Sajith Premadasa, decided to suspend her party membership for the reputation, well-being, and prosperity of the party.

The petitioner, Diana Gamage, said she is not a member of the Government but a Member of Parliament acting independently and in accordance with her conscience, as demanded by the SJB’s constitution.

However, on May 8, 2024, the Supreme Court declared that Diana Gamage lacked the legal qualifications to hold a seat in the Parliament of Sri Lanka, as she was not a citizen of Sri Lanka.