Second contempt of court case against Ranjan Ramanayake fixed for March 9

The second rule with contempt of court charges filed against former State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake for allegedly making a derogatory statement regarding the Supreme Court was yesterday fixed for March 9 by Supreme Court.

Counsel Ashan Fernando appearing for Ramanayake informed court that his senior counsel Anura Meddegoda PC was unable to appear before Court owing to ill health.

The Supreme Court was informed that former Gampaha District Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake is currently reading for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree via Zoom technology while behind bars.

Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Justice S. Thurairaja, Justice Yasantha Kodagoda and Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz decided to fix the matter for March 9.

On January 11, 2021 the Supreme Court convicted Ranjan Ramanayake for the offence of contempt of court and sentenced him to a term of four years rigorous imprisonment.

The Supreme Court had served a rule pursuant to a complaint that Ranjan Ramanayake had made a comment on media regarding an ongoing case at Supreme Court in a manner of insulting and damaging the reputation of the judiciary. It is alleged that the former State Minister had allegedly insulted the Supreme Court by publicly prejudging a fundamental rights violation petition which was filed over the dissolution of Parliament on October, 2018.