A.D. Susil Premajayantha and others Vs. Dayananda Dissanayake and others – CA 84/2011-2011

In the case between A.D. Susil Premajayantha, General Secretary, Eksath Janatha Nidahas Sandanaya (United People’s Freedom Alliance/UPFA), and Dayananda Dissanayake, Commissioner of Elections (with others), the court addressed whether the rejection of the UPFA’s nomination paper for the Akmeemana Pradeshiya Sabha Local Authority Election by the Returning Officer was lawful. It was held that the legal framework, specifically sections 28(4), 28(5), and 31(1)(d) of the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, requires only the nomination paper—not the oaths/affirmations of individual candidates—to be attested by a Justice of the Peace, and does not mandate such attestation for individual candidate oaths/affirmations. Consequently, the rejection of the nomination paper on the basis that one cand