RE GARUMUNIGE TILAKARATNE… – sllr 1991 volume 1 page 134

Brief
In the matter of the petitioner, a political figure challenging a pending Presidential Election petition, versus the respondent, a reporter from the Divaina newspaper accused of causing the publication of a prejudicial news item, the Supreme Court addressed whether the respondent’s action constituted contempt of court under Article 105(3) of the Constitution. The central issue revolved around whether the reporter’s near-verbatim reproduction of a statement regarding the outcome of a yet-undecided petition amounted to interference with the administration of justice, specifically by creating a real risk of prejudice to the fairness and impartiality of ongoing proceedings. The Court determined that publication did, in fact, meet the standard for contempt, irrespective of the editor’s ac