Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed Parliament today (06) that the Supreme Court had ruled that five sections of the Corona virus (covid 19) Provisions Bill were unconstitutional.
The Speaker said that the Supreme Court had informed that Articles 12, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the Bill were unconstitutional.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed Parliament that Supreme court informed that Article 12 which should be read parallel with 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 10 articles of the Bill, is unconstitutional and should be approved by a special majority vote as well as a referendum.
He said it is also included in the decision of supreme court that if the clause is amended, its inconsistency will be removed and the bill can be passed by a simple majority vote in Parliament.
The Supreme Court has decided that Article 4 of the Bill is also unconstitutional and that it needs to be passed by a special majority vote in accordance with Article 84 (2) of the Constitution and that the Bill could be passed by a simple majority vote in Parliament as it would lose its compliance if the clause was amended, speaker informed Parliament.
Also, the Supreme Court has ruled that Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the Bill should be passed by a special majority vote in accordance with Article 84 (2) of the Constitution as it is unconstitutional under Article 12 (1) of the Constitution.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed Parliament that the other sections of the Bill could be passed by a simple majority vote in Parliament as they are not unconstitutional and that the provisions of Article 3 (1) of the Bill should be included in the decision of the Supreme Court.
