Sri Lanka's army chief in controversy over election ad
Colombo: Sri Lanka's election chief said Wednesday that he has asked for an explanation from the defense ministry on why the army commander features in an advertisement promoting a candidate for next month's presidential election.
The advertisement, which appeared in a newspaper last weekend, had comments made by Lt Gen Shavendra Silva, the current army chief, in 2009 praising presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his role in ending the country's long civil war.
Rajapaksa was defence chief at the time, serving under his brother, then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Silva was an army division commander. The advertisement includes a photo of Silva in uniform with his comments.
Election chief Mahinda Deshapriya criticised the advertisement and said he has sought an explanation from the secretary to the defence ministry on why the army chief was being used to promote a presidential candidate.
"We highly regret this advertisement," said Deshapriya, adding that "it could be an old statement, but it is regrettable that the rank and designation of the present army commander had been used."
Mahinda Rajapaksa has swept to victory in several elections by promoting himself as the leader who defeated the once invincible Tamil Tiger rebels in the long civil war.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa's popularity is on the increase after April's Easter attacks in Sri Lanka that killed 263 people and wounded 500. But to his opponents and critics, he is a feared defence official accused of condoning rape, torture and shadowy disappearances of critics.
On Tuesday, he said that if he wins the November 16 election, he won't recognise an agreement the government made with the UN human rights council to investigate alleged war crimes during the civil war.
If he does win and follows through with his comments, it would be a severe setback to Sri Lanka's post-war reconciliation process.
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We are completely immune, says SC; flags half-baked running commentary on pending cases
New Delhi (PTI): Observing that half-baked truth and ill-informed running commentary on sub-judice cases affect public perception, the Supreme Court on Friday asserted that it is "completely immune" from reporting of cases for the sake of publicity or narrative building.
The observations were made by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi during the hearing of a case concerning the repatriation of certain individuals deported to Bangladesh, when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta took strong exception to a news article published in an English daily on the issue.
"There is a concurrent and simultaneous narrative-building exercise going on. I am sure it does not affect your lordships. There are certain tabloids which are normally known and used for narrative building exercises. Unfortunately, today, to my amazement and shock, I read a front page story in a reputable and dependable newspaper like..., it must have escaped the editorial attention," the law officer said.
During the proceedings, the court was informed that Sunali Khatun, a pregnant woman, and her eight-year old son have come back to India and currently, she is getting medical attention at her father's residence in Birbhum in West Bengal.
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The bench fixed January 6 to hear the Centre's appeal against a Calcutta High Court judgement that directed the repatriation of certain individuals deported to Bangladesh on the alleged ground that the due process was not followed.
During the proceedings, the solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, raised the issue of the news report.
Terming the reportage as "tabloid-like", the top law officer said, "I do not want to escalate ... but attempts are made to build a particular kind of narrative" in a bid to influence the outcome.
The law officer said he was sure that the bench is not influenced by any such reports, but it does cast doubt about the intention to build a particular kind of narrative.
"My faith was shaken," Mehta said.
"We are completely immune from publicity and pseudo-publicity stunts. Narratives should not affect the lives of individuals," Justice Bagchi said, adding that the judges hardly get time to see newspapers.
Referring to the names of leading English newspapers, the top law officers said they cannot be reduced to "the level of these tabloids, where you plant stories. It is for the newspaper to decide".
Advising the law officer to "just ignore them", the CJI, however, said, "Ideally, ill-informed running commentary on sub-judice matters should not be made."
"The problem is half-baked distorted facts and ill-informed facts are being reported," he said.
"Reporting that a matter is coming up (for hearing) is fine. But if you thrust your opinion, then that is an issue. The issue is with half-baked truth and ill-informed opinion which affects public perception," the CJI added.
The CJI assured the law officer saying, "we do not accept pleadings which are outside."
"Once the judgment is passed, any constructive criticism is always most welcome," the CJI added.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, referred to the media's role in recent times in countries like the UK and the US, and said immigration issues are part of a "global discourse" and comments and public discourses are held on social media and other platforms.
"People write opinions in the US and England on immigration. As long as you don't attribute motive, it is not sacrilege," Sibal said.
At the outset, senior advocate Sanjay Hegde brought to the court's attention the plight of another deportee, Sweety Bibi, who remains stuck with her husband and two children.
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Hegde offered to provide documents proving their Indian citizenship. He urged the solicitor general to take up the other case on humanitarian grounds, saying, "that side of the border is very difficult for Indians."
The law officer assured Hegde that he will look into the issue and the verification may take sometime.
The court said once documents are verified, modalities for their return could be considered in a time-bound manner.
The case involves families who had been working as daily wagers in Delhi's Rohini area for two decades.
They were detained by police on June 18 on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and deported on June 27.
The Calcutta High Court, in its impugned order, had observed that the deportation violated the Union Home Ministry’s own protocols, which require an inquiry by the state government before deportation.
The high court had noted that the "overenthusiasm" in deporting the detainees disturbed the "judicial climate".
Sibal reiterated this point during the hearing and said, "The Union does no inquiry for 30 days before deporting them."
