Attorney-General v. Siriwardena – 1978_79_80 volume 1 page 377

In Attorney-General v. Siriwardena, the court addressed the issue of whether criticism, expressed in harsh and deprecatory language, regarding statements made in Parliament and in reference to a specific Member of Parliament (for Ududumbara), amounts to an offence under the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act. The court held that criticism, while a vital component of democratic society, must not exceed the bounds of fairness and decorum, and that crude or excessive language directed at Parliament or its members constitutes contempt and defamation. The legal principles reaffirmed include the limits of acceptable criticism in parliamentary affairs and the inapplicability of certain civil defamation defences in contexts involving parliamentary privilege. Reliance was placed on the Parliame