Arjuna Ranatunga v Johnston Fernando Minister of Youth Affairs and Others – sllr 2004 volume 3 page 255

In Arjuna Ranatunga v. Johnston Fernando, Minister of Youth Affairs and Others, the Supreme Court considered whether a gazette notification amending regulation 14 of the Sports Law No. 25 of 1973, which disqualified Members of Parliament and certain local authority members from holding office in sports associations, violated the petitioner’s fundamental rights under Articles 12(1), 12(2), and 14(1)(g) of the Constitution. It was determined that the regulation, though intended to depoliticize sports associations, imposed an arbitrary and unsubstantiated classification lacking a rational and substantial foundation. The petitioner’s constitutional rights were held to have been infringed. Relief was confined to costs, as no harm had materialized due to the absence of intervening elections. The